Wow, another Base Camp Bash has whizzed by and we were able to raise critical funding for Cottonwood Institute programs with a little New Orleans flair. So, how much did we raise this year? Well, you’ll have to read on…

The Cottonwood Institute decorating committee—spearheaded by Beverly Church and Jessica Church—CI staff, and volunteers descended on Great Divide‘s Private Event Space in RiNo to transform a working brewery into a Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest-infused party with Mardi Gras beads, decorations from real New Orleans floats, even a decorated camper out front to help direct people to the party!

The Mile High Brass Band set the tone for the night with their funky brass beats. To help quench our thirst, we had amazing cocktails from Tap Fourteen Uptown, including mint juleps featuring Distillery 291 Colorado whiskey and a vodka French 75 with Deep Eddy Vodka. Vine Connections helped out by donating some delicious rosé and red wine for the evening, and of course we had craft beer from Great Divide Brewing Company! Butcher’s Bistro helped fill our bellies with delicious appetizers, including deviled eggs, Andouille sausage, and beignet bites, while Snooze stepped up again this year to donate food for our main event, including shrimp and grits and a delicious Distillery 291 Bourbon pancake for dessert!

In total, we raised over $77,500 to help support Cottonwood Institute programs at our high-need schools that don’t have the funding our resources to pay for the true costs of our high-quality, high-impact programs. With this essential funding, we are able to connect underserved public school students to the outdoors and empower them to tackle local environmental issues in the community they are passionate about addressing! And we have to give a huge shout out to Andy Seth from Flow, our “accidental auctioneer”, who really helped rile the crowd into a bidding frenzy.

But perhaps the most impactful part of the evening was hearing from two outstanding students who received our 2019 Ripple Effect Awards, each beautifully designed by Bryan Buikema from C8 Projects, Inc. Each year we give out two Ripple Effect Awards to students who show outstanding leadership through the student-directed Action Projects their class designs to help address a local environmental issue. This year, we were humbled to honor Osiel Gomez from KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy in Denver, CO and Pedro Guerra from New Vista High School in Boulder, CO. Click here to read more about the Ripple Effect Award!

Thank you to everyone who supported the 2019 Base Camp Bash! From the companies that sponsored the Bash to the individuals and businesses that donated products and trips for our auction to the generous people who won big to help support our programs. Check out all of the great photos from the 2019 Base Camp Bash and share on social media! We can’t wait to see you next year!

SPONSORS:

Cottonwood Institute is committed to building an ecosystem of supporters who are all committed to each other’s long term sustainability and success. Please support the following companies that make our programs possible: