Colorado environmental education nonprofit Cottonwood Institute hosted its spring benefit, the Base Camp Bash, in April. Thank you to all of our attendees and sponsors! Check out photos from the 2023 Base Camp Bash Here.
The 2023 Base Camp Bash was fire and we are still glowing from an amazing evening to support Cottonwood Institute, an environmental education nonprofit in Colorado. With help from our sponsors and donors, we raised $156,802, shattering all previous Cottonwood records!
It wouldn’t be a Base Camp Bash without a little snow and weather, but the skies parted and the sun came out to shine on for an amazing night at Space Gallery in Denver’s Santa Fe Art District.
A sold out crowd of 250+ people packed the house and we enjoyed 60’s soul spinning on vinyl 45’s from Mile High Soul Club. We were well fed with food from Snooze and our thirst was quenched with cocktails from Distillery 291 and Epic Western, beer from Great Divide, wine from Total Wine & More, and non-alcoholic beverages from Trader Joe’s.
We had an amazing community of donors, sponsors, students, parents, board members, staff, and instructors come together to celebrate our amazing students and to raise the critical funding we need to deliver our programs.
We were honored to have one of our talented instructors, Eeland Stribling, emcee our event, and Ford Church shared more about how Cottonwood Institute was founded. The big takeaway was to follow your dreams, never give up, “leap, and the net will appear.”
We celebrated our talented Changemaker Apprentice Instructors: Jesse Holtsnider, Sasha Trask, and Iona Kelly, who helped plan and lead activities with our Changemaker students this school year.
This year we also recognized 5 Ripple Effect Award students: Bailey Montez from AXL Academy, Samantha Garcia from STRIVE Prep – Westwood, April Preciado from Centaurus High School, Margot Wilton from Angevine Middle School, and Rowan Labush from New Vista High School. These students demonstrated outstanding leadership; went above and beyond during their CAP classes; and played a pivotal role in executing impactful Action Projects to help address local environmental issues.
And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place after Rob Guthrie shared the story of his daughter, Lauren Guthrie. While Lauren wasn’t a Cottonwood Institute student, she was inspired by outdoor and leadership experiences before her life was tragically cut short after graduating high school. To help honor her life and legacy, Rob presented April Preciado and Margot Wilton with the 2023 Lauren Guthrie Legacy Scholarship to attend an Avid4 Adventure Expedition and keep developing their outdoor and leadership skills.
By the end of the night, we raised over $150,000, which is a new record for Cottonwood Institute – WOW! This means that the Changemakers will get to go on their rafting trip this summer; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College and Casa de la Esperanza students will get to go on their Endangered Wolves Project trip; and our CAP and Changemaker Programs will be fully funded this school year – woohoo!
A huge thank you to all who helped make this evening possible. Please support our sponsors below who help support local environmental education nonprofits like Cottonwood Institute!
Written by Ford Church, Founder and Executive Director, Cottonwood Institute
