Jay Cutler, Champ Bailey, John Lynch…just a few names of our players who have been extremely busy impacting the community during the offseason.

Jay Cutler launched his new foundation that will partner with United Way, supporting “Lights on After School” in Denver. Through his commitment, Jay has adopted Columbine and Wyatt Edison Elementary Schools and has visited with both schools regularly since his foundation was launched. The ultimate goal of his work is to keep kids safe, in school and reaching their dreams.

Champ Bailey has partnered with Vitamin Water to support a volunteerism campaign on behalf of the Denver Rescue Mission. In so doing, he has himself committed regular volunteer hours spent with kids at the Broncos Youth Center at The Crossing, a transitional housing facility of the Denver Rescue Mission for families in need.

John Lynch continues to advance the positive work of his foundation through regular recognition of outstanding student athletes and leaders in the metro Denver area and through his annual Salute to the Stars scholarship luncheon held at INVESCO Field at Mile High.

We are fortunate in our organization to have some outstanding philanthropic players who help to advance the core mission of our organization in the community: striving to improve the lives of Coloradans through youth, health and hunger/homeless relief initiatives.

In the spirit of the aforementioned mission, the organization was also focused on community impact. One of the most painful and challenging efforts this off season was to establish a formal and extremely meaningful, lasting and high-impact way in which to honor the memory of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, consistent with the organization’s mission and vision in the community. We are truly honored to present an annual Darrent Williams Memorial Grant through Broncos Charities in the amount of $50,000 to a service agency in the area that provides positive alternatives to young people. This first year, the grant was given to Reverend Leon Kelly to advance the work of Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives.

Moving forward, the Broncos will also work with the City and County of Denver and Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver to open the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center, a much needed addition to the ever growing Broncos Boys and Girls Club in Montbello. Our goal is to have the doors open and serving teens by Dec. 31 of this year.

As we prepare for another season on the field, we are ever mindful of the privilege it is to work for an owner who gives us every chance to put the best possible team on the field, but also gives us the resources needed to be a socially responsible and collaborative partner in the Colorado community to truly make a difference in the lives of its citizens.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Community Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.