Participate in CPW Day of Giving, donate and gift outdoor memories to support Colorado’s outdoors
Bridget O'Rourke
The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area's River Safety in Schools Program aims to saturate the Arkansas Valley with basic river safety knowledge and equipment, starting with local children.
DENVER—Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is hosting a 24-hour fundraising campaign, CPW Day of Giving, on July 25, 2024, to raise funds for state park and wildlife programs and increase awareness of how donors can support CPW in a valuable way.CPW's mission is to perpetuate the state's wildlife resources, provide a quality state parks system, and provide enjoyable and sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities that educate and inspire current and future generations to serve as active stewards of Colorado's natural resources.
Colorado is home to 43 world-class state parks, more than 960 species of wildlife and 23 million acres of public lands, ranging from wetlands to forests, canyon landscapes to mountain lakes, and peaceful eastern plains. Join us in keeping Colorado, Colorado.
Donors make a big difference in CPW's work. Every contribution goes a long way to help protect our wildlife and natural spaces, support our state parks and outdoor recreational opportunities, and introduce new people to the wonders of Colorado's great outdoors.
All dollars raised through the CPW Day of Giving will sponsor CPW programs and projects. Below are programs donors help support:
- Ridgway State Park Overlook Colorblind-Friendly Viewing Stations will install colorblind-friendly EnChroma technology-enhanced viewing stations at select popular overlooks within Ridgway State Park. They will provide inclusive opportunities for colorblind individuals to experience the vibrant beauty of the San Juan and Cimarron Mountain ranges.
- Agents of Discovery is an augmented reality gaming platform, inspired by Pokémon GO, that provides free self-guided experiences to learn about our state parks in fun and engaging ways. Agents of Discovery is available at 14 Colorado state parks and guests have played more than 17,700 missions.
- Get Outdoors Day is a free annual event sponsored by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the City of Colorado Springs, UCHealth, Scheels, Sportsmen for Community, Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, Peak Radar, and Pikes Peak Heritage Series. The event was attended by more than 5,000 people, many of which are families looking for fun adventures in the outdoors. The event's goal is to encourage our community to get outdoors and enjoy our many opportunities for outdoor recreation. This year's event highlight was free fishing poles gifted to 800 kids, all funded by donors.
- River Safety in Schools: The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area's River Safety in Schools Program aims to saturate the Arkansas Valley with basic river safety knowledge and equipment, starting with local children. Third-grade students receive a classroom education on the importance of life jackets, self-rescue, hazard identification, and river ethics. Then, they are fitted with a life jacket to keep. When the child outgrows this first life jacket, they can trade it in for a more oversized universal life jacket to continue to float into adulthood. This program is a cooperative partnership with local elementary schools, fire departments, recreation departments, businesses, and non-profits.
- CPW K9 Program: CPW has three extraordinary officers who come to work on four legs. K9s Cash, Sampson, and Sci put their talents to use helping their two-legged colleagues find and gather evidence in poaching cases, release bears that are being relocated away from populated areas to safer spaces, and even sniff out endangered species like Boreal Toads and Black-Footed Ferrets. They are also some of CPW's most popular teachers and participate in educational presentations at schools and communities across the state.
- The Colorado Trail Explorer (COTREX) app contains over 45,000 miles of officially sanctioned trails around the state. It works with more than two dozen active agency partners which post real-time trail advisories such as closures and alerts. Donations are helping the COTREX team to promote fire safety awareness and position COTREX as a go-to place for official information related to fire safety. As part of this project, COTREX is introducing a new wildfire overlay to the map and app that will show official information about active wildfires around the state, serving as an important resource for up-to-date information related to closures, fire ban advisories and active wildfires. This feature will provide every agency and organization involved with an immediate call to action that members of the public can take to stay safe when planning their trips.
- Sensory backpacks are an excellent tool for people with sensory processing disorders. Sometimes an office, visitor center, volunteer opportunity, or education program may be over- or under-stimulating. People may be sensitive to light, sounds, noises, or certain textures. Sensory kits provide various tools and activities for visitors and volunteers to regulate, focus, learn, and communicate. Donors are supporting the creation of sensory backpacks that will be available for visitors and volunteers to use on-site or check out while visiting and volunteering at state parks and participating in CPW activities.
For more information on CPW’s philanthropy program, visit cpw.state.co.us/donate.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 43 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.