Outdoor Mindset to Participate in Colorado Gives Day

Outdoor Mindset announces its support of Colorado Gives Day 2013 – an initiative to increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving to Colorado charities. Presented by Community First Foundation and FirstBank, Colorado Gives Day is a 24-hour period to “Give where you live” by making online donations to the hundreds of charities featured on Community First Foundation’s online giving resource, ColoradoGives.org. As a profiled charity on ColoradoGives.org, Outdoor Mindset will benefit from this initiative.

On Colorado Gives Day (12/10/13), Outdoor Mindset will host a one day event: Going the Distance for Giving Challenge. Outdoor Mindset supporters are encouraged to go 12.10 miles on 12/10/13 to promote giving on Colorado Gives Day. Participants in the Going the Distance for Giving Challenge may create  fundraising pages here. Help us go the distance to raise awareness, get outside, and promote giving on Colorado Gives Day! For more information, visit our calendar or contact Julie, Community and Programs Manager: julie@outdoormindset.org.

“We are excited to be part of Colorado Gives Day this year. This initiative helps raise awareness of the work we do for the community and brings Coloradans together. We are particularly excited about gathering our supporters and getting outside for our first Going the Distance for Giving Challenge,” said Julie Myers, Community and Programs Manger for Outdoor Mindset.

“Thanks to generous Coloradans and hardworking nonprofits, we’ve seen the impact of Colorado Gives Day build dramatically over the last three years in every way,” said Marla J. Williams, president and CEO of Community First Foundation. “Not only the dollars raised, but the number of nonprofits and donors contributing to the success of the day has also grown tremendously. We look forward to continuing this momentum through Colorado Gives Day 2013.”

For more information about Outdoor Mindset, please visit www.outdoormindset.org. And for more information about Colorado Gives Day and the other charities involved, please visit ColoradoGivesDay.org.

Outdoor Mindset unites and empowers people affected by neurological challenges through a common passion for the outdoors.

Community First Foundation has been serving the community for 38 years, helping donors and nonprofits come together to improve quality of life in the Denver metro area. It funds community programs, supports the services of nonprofit organizations, and assists individuals with charitable giving. The Foundation is also known for its innovative programs such as ColoradoGives.org, an online giving resource that has raised more than $50 million for Colorado nonprofits since 2007 and is the platform for Colorado Gives Day. For more information, visit www.CommunityFirstFoundation.org.

Kudos to OM's New Website!

We are psyched about the new platform for our members to connect and get outside. We have continued to grow our membership to over 260 members located in over 30 states. To refresh, here are the programs available to our members through our NEW and IMPROVED website:

• Free Membership Community: Community membership is available for anyone who shares our passion for the outdoors and has been affected by a neurological challenge (including diagnosed individuals and their supporters). Members may connect with other members, participate in our programs, gain access to special events, participate in exclusive giveaways, access member discounts & perks, and more.

• Connect Program: Members may search other members' profiles and connect one-on-one with another member who has experience with a similar diagnosis. These relationships inspire hope, instill passion for maintaining outdoor lives and enable our members to receive support from someone uniquely familiar with their experience.

• Meetup Groups: These groups strengthen connections and empower members to get outside with other members in their local area. Members may join awesome events or organize their own adventures. We are now located in 5 cities, including Boulder, Denver, Breckenridge, Hanover, and Cincinnati! 

You MUST be a member to take advantage of the following tools/features. Join Now!

• Member Perks: Members can enjoy exclusive member discounts to help motivate and empower them to live big!

• Search other Members: Members may search other members by diagnosis, outdoor passion, city, age, or gender...and connect online to get offline and into the outdoors!

• Say Hi to your Connections: Once you are connected to other members, you may send him/her a private message. 

Please visit our new website and email us with your feedback or testimonial: connect@outdoormindset.org

Meet Your Denver OM Ambassador, Amanda

We are so excited to have OM members and sisters - Lisa and Amanda Avram - as our new Denver OM Ambassadors. Their Live Big spirit is contagious, and they have some great ideas for fun and unique Meetup events in Denver! Article below was submitted by Amanda Avram.

What’s up, party people!  My name is Amanda.  I’m Lisa’s sister.  I like to think of us as the Dynamic Duo of Neurological Awesomeness. I am also born and raised in Ohio, but I’ve been out here in Denver for 8 years… I think.  Maybe it’s 7 years? I don’t know, somewhere between 7-9 years. I am a Senior Educator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I teach everything from Dinosaurs to brain dissections and to every age from Pre-K to Pre-service teachers. It’s ridiculously fun. I feel like I get paid to play, which is nice!

I consider Colorado to be the most epic playground one could ever imagine.  Rock climbing, hiking, camping, backpacking, snowshoeing, mountaineering, cycling, blah, blah, blah all right outside your door. Not only that, but you get to do it with this stupid awesome backdrop of mountainous goodness all around you. It’s surreal at times (especially when you grew up in Ohio), and it is very zen-like and restorative. Clearly, I love doing all those things. Like my sister, I love climbing the Colorado 14ers and pretty much anything high altitude. I have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and, recently, went to Argentina to attempt Mt. Aconcagua. I had to turn around at 21,000 ft because of cold. It was a difficult decision to make, but I don’t regret it. I sort of need my fingers and toes. Priorities, I guess! I’d love to go back and give it another go.

Apparently, Epilepsy runs in our family. I grew up with it, our Mom grew up with it, and now Lisa has it!  Hey, sharing is caring. I learned that in pre-school. My seizures started when I was in 1^st or 2^nd grade, and I had them through High School. My favorite seizure story starts with, “This one time at band camp…”

My latest neurological adventure is my TBI diagnoses. It happened 5 years ago. I was traveling back from Nevada with a group of friends when our vehicle was struck by a double trailer semi-truck. I can now legitimately say I know what it feels like to get hit by a truck. So, I have that going for me.

What are my hopes for Meet-ups: I just want to get as many people out doing as many super fun things as possible. I really want to get the Outdoor Mindset Organization out there in the public eye as much as possible. So many people can benefit from this organization, and I want them to hear about it!

Not surprising facts about me: If you haven’t figured it out, I like to keep things light. Laughter really is the best medicine for me. I’m pretty fun-loving and easy going. I just like having a good time.

If I were a cheese, what kind of cheese would I be? If I were a cheese, I’d probably be like a Taleggio or something like that. It’s slightly stinky; but, if you can get past the smell, it’s really delicious!

If I were a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, which one would I be: Michaelangelo, DUH!  He’s goofy and slightly stupid at times, but can wield a nasty set of nunchucks when necessary! Also, he loves pizza as much as I do.