National Kidney Foundation Hosts Second Annual Billings Kidney Walk

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(BILLINGS, MT) September 29, 2010—The National Kidney Foundation Serving Colorado, Montana and Wyoming hosted the Second Annual Billings Kidney Walk on September 18 at Pioneer Park.

“Thank you to the Billings community for its support of our second walk here,” said Kathy Wegner, Regional Vice President of the foundation. “We raised nearly $20,000 to assist local patient, education, and prevention programs, with more than 83 cents of every dollar raised going back to local Montana services.”

The event raised funds to support the various patient and community assistance programs, as well as kidney health screenings in Montana, and was sponsored in part by DCI and Cladis Investment Advisory, Inc.

The National Kidney Foundation Serving Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming is dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract disease, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation. For more information, visit www.kidneycmw.org.

(Photo Captions: Top Left; Tammy Murray, Shelly Seidel, Mary Holland, Gina Neill, Nora Ellsworth, Jenny Koffler. Top Right; Team Kidney Sisters- Linda Ernst, Donna Mullin, Roseanne Plath, Stacy Viren and Jan Viren. Middle Right; Team Baby Lani Bug. Bottom Right; Shelly Seidel, Lee Ann Larson, Shari Feden, Deb Earl and Carl Cossit.)

A Wedding Story :: From Des Moines, Iowa

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I attended a most fabulous wedding in Des Moines, Iowa over Labor Day weekend. The reception was held at the gorgeous St. Anthony's Cathedral, and the reception was held at the Des Moines Downtown Marriott.

View the video, featuring the bride's mother, Kris McVicker, singing "The Prayer," a duet between Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli.

CULTUREHAUS HOSTS ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP BASH

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Nearly 350 Expected at “Black & White”

CultureHaus, a social and educational support group of the Denver Art Museum connecting the young at heart with art, will hold its Annual Membership Bash on Thursday, September 30, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Denver Art Museum (100 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy., Denver).

Bash is a yearly recognition party for CultureHaus members and allows non-members an exclusive view into the organization. This year’s Bash theme, Black & White, coincides with the Denver Art Museum’s newly founded photography department and current exhibit, Exposure: Photos from the Vault.

“Since photography is the focus of the event, guests will not only observe through a photographer’s eye, but will participate and have cameras turned on them,” commented event Co-Chair Jenn McIntire. “With an expected attendance of 350, this is the main membership drive for our organization.”

Ticket price includes exhibition viewing, a dessert bar, and complimentary beer, wine, specialty cocktails, and soft drinks. Attendees will also have their photographs taken by paparazzi against the event’s “step and repeat” wall.

Advance tickets on or before September 15 are $15 for members (limit two) and $25 for non-members and can be purchased via www.blacktie-colorado.com. After September 15, ticket prices will be five dollars more. To learn more about CultureHaus, visit www.culturehaus.com.

About CultureHaus
CultureHaus, a social and educational support group of the Denver Art Museum, connects the young at heart with art. CultureHaus provides its members with a wide range of opportunities to learn about art and collecting. At exclusive events held nearly every month, members and guests can enjoy unique insights about art, private exhibition viewings, and the chance to meet other art enthusiasts. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and others formed CultureHaus in 1997 to create awareness for the Denver Art Museum and the arts amongst the 25 to 40-year-old demographic. For more information, visit www.culturehaus.com.

Colorado Proud School Meal Day to Showcase Colorado Products on DPS School Menus

Denver Public Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services today announced a celebration for Colorado Proud School Meal Day on Wednesday, September 8 at 10:00 a.m. at Centennial K-8 School (4665 Raleigh Street, Denver). Colorado Proud School Meal Day celebrates local Colorado farmers by highlighting Colorado products on the school menu, as proclaimed by Governor Bill Ritter.

“We believe in educating the whole child. It is important to know where your food comes from and how to make healthy choices each day,” said Leo Lesh, Director of DPS Food and Nutrition Services. “Better nutrition equals better students.”

On September 8 at Centennial School, attendees will learn about Colorado agriculture from John Stulp, the Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture; hear Jacob Howes talk about the Rocky Ford cantaloupe he grew for lunch; and receive a garden tour from Centennial parents and Catia Chavez from Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP). Following the tour, guests will enjoy a school meal featuring Colorado cantaloupe, beef, green chili, milk, peaches, and tortillas.

At other DPS schools (Barnum, Bradley, Bromwell, Brown, Eagleton, Edison, Ellis, Fairmont, Fairview, Hallett, Lincoln, Lowry, McGlone, Munroe, Park Hill, Polaris at Ebert, Steele) community partners Slow Food Denver, Denver Urban Gardens, and the Integrated Nutrition Education Program will lead students in school garden tours and preparation of healthy recipes utilizing school garden produce or Colorado grown produce after the garden tours. EatDenver Serves Schools (EDSS) is working to partner its member restaurants with neighborhood schools to provide chefs for cooking demonstrations in the cafeteria.

Colorado agribusinesses contribute nearly $16 billion to the state economy annually and provide more than 105,000 jobs. Colorado has 36,000 farms and ranches that encompass 31 million acres (from www.colorado.gov/ag).

Colorado Proud School Meal Day is sponsored by Colorado Proud, a program created in 1999 to promote local foods through the Colorado Department of Agriculture. For more information, visit www.coloradoproud.org.

For more information, please contact Anne Wilson, with DPS Food and Nutrition Services Department, at 720-423-5608 or Wendy White, with the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Colorado Proud program, at 303-239-4119.

About EatDenver/EDSS
EatDenver is an association of more than 50 locally-owned, independent restaurants committed to supporting and promoting the value of independent dining within the community. EatDenver Serves Schools (EDSS) is the new service arm of the organization and will assist Denver Public Schools in creating and supporting programs aimed at bettering the nutritional offerings of the city's children, such as school gardens and 'scratch' kitchen training. Through EDDS, EatDenver member restaurants will be matched with a school to help foster an ongoing relationship. Other outreach includes service projects, education and chef demonstrations, awareness and fundraising. Visit www.eatdenver.com to learn more.


About Slow Food Denver
Slow Food Denver is one of more than 200 local chapters of Slow Food USA that carry out the Slow Food mission in their communities. Slow Food Denver strengthens our local food community by offering educational experiences to all ages; connecting consumers, producers and partners; and, transforming food policies on a local, regional and national level. Slow Food Denver’s flagship Seed to Table program encompasses our work with Denver area schools to teach students about their food; how it is grown, how to prepare it and the importance of sharing it with friends and family. Through collaboration with our community partners, we create meaningful relationships between young people and food through projects such as STT School Gardens, Youth Farmer’s Markets, School Food FOCUS farm to cafeteria, DPS Scratch Cooking and Garden to Cafeteria. Visit www.slowfooddenver.org to learn more.

Feed Denver Unveils Parking Lot Farm

MoodFood, a conglomerate of food and nutrition education organizations, introduces Feed Denver’s Parking Lot Farm at the corner of 42^nd St. and Steele St., in the Swansea neighborhood of Denver. The farm makes its produce available at its own farm market and community celebrations on Thursday evenings: September 2, 9, and 16 at the “parking lot farm.” The market will take place each of the aforementioned days from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

“Residents and youth of this neighborhood have transformed a vacant parking lot into an urban farm that has now become a community gathering place where we will hold the farm markets on September 2, 9, and 16,” said Lisa Rogers, executive director of Feed Denver. “Attendees will be able to buy fresh vegetables grown in the parking lot while eating great food and enjoying the neighborhood and neighbors.”

The project is being funded by Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets with partial support by Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods Program, and the City of Denver’s Office of Economic Development. Feed Denver is a non-profit education and development organization created to empower local-level economic independence through sustainable small-scale farms and markets in urban settings. Feed Denver is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center, a 501(c)3.

Learn more at www.FeedDenver.com.

About MoodFood

MoodFood is a conglomerate of forward-thinking organizations that have one common thread—food and nutrition education for Colorado youth and families. MoodFood works to increase awareness and further the mission of its participating organizations through public relations, marketing, community events, and social networking—under one collective voice. To learn more about MoodFood and the organizations it supports, visit www.tools4learning.com/moodfood.