Colorado Gives Day

Landon began his training at the Colorado Center for the Blind a month after he graduated from high school. He’s from a small town in South Carolina. It’s the kind of town where everybody knows everybody else.

“Everybody had their idea of what I should do next,” he says. “But I wanted to improve some of my blindness skills and figure it out on my own. Coming here for training was like taking a gamble on myself.”

It was all about pies. That’s how we promoted our November 16 FAST (Fun Activities and Skills Training) event. We called it “Conquering the Kitchen,” and parents, youth, and teachers came from the Denver and Colorado Springs areas. Blind youth worked in the large kitchen with volunteer teachers from our Independence Training Program (ITP), while their parents were in the small kitchen with Director Julie Deden learning the same nonvisual techniques.

It’s a tradition! Each year, our Home Management instructors take students through weeks of preparation for our annual Thanksgiving feast. This year the feast was held on November 21, and all four of the classes roasted a turkey for the big meal.

But it’s also become a tradition for Delfina, our longest-tenured Home Management instructor, to lead the class in a little dance of anticipatory joy – the Turkey Dance!

Make a Colorado Gives donation that celebrates Duncan Larsen and our blind seniors!

Duncan Larsen’s commitment to instilling confidence in all blind people goes back to her earliest professional years in Nebraska. She was one of our founders in 1988 after moving to Colorado. In fact, Duncan was the cane travel instructor on that storied first day when she traveled to the Center with those first students in a blizzard. Since that time, Duncan has changed thousands of lives.

So, we’re dedicating the Senior Resource Room at the Colorado Center for the Blind as the Duncan Larsen Senior Resource Room, and we invite you to designate your 2024 Colorado Gives contribution to Duncan’s legacy.

The snow is just about melted in the Denver area, but here’s a photo from last Thursday, just as the big storm was moving in. Travel Instructor Ernesto Lucca with his student Megan are coming back to the Center after a class on the snowy sidewalks of the city.

Megan is definitely doing things she didn’t think she would as a blind person.

“You step off of curbs, get turned around, but it’s amazing. I didn’t go anywhere before without a sighted guide. Now I’m crossing streets, taking the bus and the light rail!”

Greetings!

It’s no trick. Colorado Gives Day is December 10, with all donations for Colorado Gives Day eligible for a share of the $1 Million Incentive Fund from First Bank! Last year was our best ever, bringing in over $33,000 in donations!p> That was a big treat for us, and we thank you all again!p> When you give to the Colorado Center for the Blind, you are part of changing lives. Across Colorado, any number of our graduates who are blind parents will be taking their excited little ones trick-or-treating tonight. The belief that they can live the lives they want—including becoming parents—is in good part thanks to the Colorado Center for the Blind and your generous support!