FirstGiving

Be where the giving happens

CPRA FOUNDATION

Start Fundraising

Established in 1983, the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) Foundation supports the activities and programs of the 200 municipal and 1,100 individual members of the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA). CPRA Foundation promotes parks, recreation, and leisure activities for all publics of the State of Colorado.

CPRA Foundation provides grants to Colorado communities for tree planting and community gardens and to individual members who need assistance to attend professional development events.  Through our Cancer Fitness Institute, we also support cancer survivors in indvidualized exercise and rehabilitation programs at recreation centers. 

In 2010, CPRA Foundation began an intensive process of due diligence that led to an eventual merger with another nonprofit called Summit Cancer Solutions on Jan 1, 2011. Summit Cancer Solutions (Summit) had been providing a 6 month exercise and rehabilitation program to adult cancer survivors through community recreation centers in the Denver Metro area since 1998. The program is currently offered at 10 recreation centers and 1 YMCA in Denver Metro and Fort Collins. Over the past three years, Summit transitioned its business model from providing direct services itself to a “train the trainer” model where recreation professionals are taught how to implement and run the program themselves in their own recreation facilities.   

With the merger, Summit Cancer Solutions changed its name to the Cancer Fitness Institute.  Together, CPRA Foundation and the Cancer Fitness Institute will be able to bring the Summit Cancer exercise program to recreation centers and cancer survivors across Colorado, potentially serving thousands of cancer survivors each year.  

Since the early 1990's, the CPRA Foundation has sponsored a 50/50 Matching Tree Grant program, offering matching grants for community tree planting projects.  These projects help promote and preserve the beauty of Colorado through tree planting in public areas.  To date, over 400 grants have been awarded to community organizations, with the number of trees planted reaching into the thousands. 

In 2010, twelve tree grants totalling $5625 were awarded: Foothills Parks and Recreation, South Suburban Parks and Recreation, The Prospect Foundation, City of Cortez, Heather Gardens Foundation, GardenFest Garden Club, City of Boulder, Trust for Community Parks, Friends of Louisville Arboretum, City of Brush, American Village Subdivision Two POA Montrose, and the Buell Mansion Owners Association. Twenty individuals were also awarded professional development scholarships totalling $8575 for everything from leadership training, to participation at CPRA’s annual conference, to professional development at national workshops.