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Please support Community Fund

Dear Editor:

The Independence Pass Foundation has been one of the many beneficiaries of the Healthy Community Fund since its establishment, and we wholeheartedly endorse its renewal in the upcoming election. The Healthy Community Fund is a well-managed and responsible mechanism for supporting organizations that provide the community with important services outside the realm of local government, schools and churches.

The number and breadth of agencies supported by the Fund is truly impressive. Think of the Roaring Fork Valley without local public radio and television, youth recreation, health care for low-income families, environmental education programs, detox and rehab centers, the Snowmass Rodeo and the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club – and this is just a small sample – and you can imagine the effect on the local quality of life should the Healthy Community Fund disappear. Many of the services and activities that make our lives so blessed in this valley are the direct result of Community Fund support. We should not take those services for granted or assume that funding for them will be provided from some other source if the Community Fund is not renewed.



The organizations supported by the Community Fund leverage that support into results far more valuable than the dollars provided by engaging volunteers, local businesses and cooperative partnerships in their work. One of the great hidden benefits of the Healthy Community Fund is the broad public involvement that it encourages. Helping small organizations like IPF meet basic fiscal needs allows them to spend more time on projects that engage community volunteers. In this way, the Healthy Community Fund is our own gift to ourselves.

The Independence Pass Foundation can testify to the fact that all of the funds granted through the Community Fund are subject to rigorous oversight and reporting requirements that help us focus our efforts on work that is substantial, measurable and broadly beneficial. The Community Fund’s selection and monitoring process has helped make us a more efficient and thoughtful organization. We have no doubt that the Healthy Community Fund provides benefits far in excess of its direct taxpayer cost. Don’t be complacent and think that it will be renewed without your support. Please get out there and vote, and vote yes on 1A.




Bob Wade

president, Independence Pass Foundation