The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado announced that it distributed more than $2.1 million in grants to Colorado non-profit organizations last year. The philanthropy group’s donations helped diverse programs that promote arts and culture, civic leadership initiatives, healthy families and public broadcasting. The fund donated an additional $1 million in 2005 to support Hurricane Katrina relief.

Of the total grant-related funds donated in 2005, 36.95% was given to arts and culture programs; 21.68% to civic leadership programs; 29.83% to healthy family programs; and 11.31% to public broadcasting programs.

“We are very proud to help fund all the wonderful initiatives that continue to provide such high-quality, valuable programs to Colorado,” said Mary Lou Makepeace, executive director for the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado. “These vibrant nonprofits enrich the lives of our citizens in hundreds of different ways,” she added.

The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado received an additional $1 million from the group’s founder, Tim Gill, to issue a matching grant to the American Red Cross Mile High chapter in support of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The matching grant resulted in donations from citizens all over the state of Colorado. The $1 million contribution from Tim Gill was an amount above and beyond the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado’s normal allocated annual budget.

Looking ahead to 2006, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado will continue to pursue its mission to support nonprofits while highlighting the contributions gay men and lesbians make to Colorado. “In 2006, our funds will strategically support projects that are in alignment with our own philanthropic objectives. A fundamental goal of the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado is to promote equality for all people. That means we want every person to have equal access to basic needs like nutrition, housing and education, as well as societal or intellectual needs that fuel us as human beings, such as the arts, culture and music,” said Makepeace.

About the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado

Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado was established in 1996 as a project of the Gill Foundation. The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado has a dual mission: to support community nonprofits that offer equal opportunity regardless of sexual orientation, and to raise public awareness of the contributions that gay men and lesbians make to Colorado. Since its inception, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado has awarded more than $16 million to hundreds of organizations whose program areas include arts and culture, civic leadership, healthy families and public broadcasting. For more information please visit www.gayandlesbianfund.org.

About the Funds

Every year, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado receives a financial allocation from its parent organization, the Gill Foundation, that must be donated in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations that have an IRS 501(c)(3) status and adhere to a nondiscrimination policy inclusive of sexual orientation. These monies, which typically amount to approximately 18 to 20 percent of the Gill Foundation’s earned investments, are not used for private or political purposes, in accordance with IRS regulations.