Helping our Community with $100,000 from Foundry Group. Please join us.

I don’t need to tell you about the devastation that has rocked Colorado over the past week. The rain started and it just wouldn’t stop. I’ve lived in Colorado for 17 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. People have lived here for their entire lives and haven’t. Our house and property only sustained minor damage (and we spent a few days without power and water; neither particularly difficult compared to what others are facing). It was heart wrenching to be glued to the news and local reports seeing pictures of our community – all around where we live; our neighbors; the places we go every day  – become ravaged by floods.

We have many friends who sustained real damage to their properties and homes (and like most people effected by this storm the vast majority don’t have flood insurance). A number have been forced out of their houses – some for months. Our house is only a few miles from the town of Lyons, which was completely cut off by the flood waters and totally devastated. The entire town will be shut down for months while they rebuild power, water, sewer and other critical infrastructure. Every single person in the town of Lyons has been forced to relocate. There is a message board at the evacuation center  with people searching for friends, family members and beloved family pets. It’s hard to imagine this kind of loss.

While Ryan, Jason, Brad and I started Foundry with a national vision, being part of the Boulder community was always core to the Foundry identity. We’re proud to call Boulder County home and fiercely loyal to our community. With this in mind Foundry is proud to join the relief effort by giving $100,000 through the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado to the Foothills Flood Relief Fund. These funds will directly help victims of this catastrophe.

With this gift we’re also putting out the call to other funds who have connections to Colorado (either because they are located here or through their investments in the state) to match our gift of $25,000 per partner. To Colorado entrepreneurs and business people who have built their companies in this community, please do what you can to help. And a special shout-out goes to the Denver Broncos, who today announced that they were donating $50,000 to the relief effort. While that money will make an impact, I believe an organization as tied to the community and as successful as the Broncos can do better ($25,000 per player?) The team has the strong support of fans throughout Colorado. Now their fans need support.

If you have any questions about EFCO or your company or organization would like to direct a gift through them to help with relief efforts, please email me. If you’re interested in helping out directly, click on the “Donate Now” button at the top of this post. And, of course, if you’re interested in joining EFCO I’d be happy to talk with you about that. Together we can help rebuild.