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Letters: Vail’s private charities a huge help

Compiled by Vail Daily staff
Vail CO, Colorado

Crisis averted

I recently had such a generous and kind experience with two of the valley’s charitable organizations and I want to publicly recognize them for their wonderfulness.

I have a friend in Leadville who is in the midst of a major medical crisis and forced to stop working, with no financial depth to draw from. She is also raising a 3 year-old. She has been working with government services for disability status, which she obviously needs immediately and desperately, but she finds that the system prolongs hearings, authorization and services for months on end. Meanwhile, she does not even have money for food.



Enter local charitable foundations; Swift Eagle Charitable Foundation and Vail Valley Charitable Fund. Swift Eagle acted very quickly and provided payment for her outstanding medical bills so her insurance would not be terminated, obviously devastating. When the insurance company tried to force a deadline that could not be complied with (and different from the deadline specified on the bill), President Dave Haakenson responded by personally overseeing an accelerated process and sent the check over-night, which prevented them from dropping her.

Karen Simon and the board of Vail Valley Charitable Fund gave her their full allotted amount to help with her living expenses, and again medical bills, also acting very promptly. Karen, like Dave Haakenson, was a joy to work with; prompt and professional, kind and truly helpful, and generous with their funding.

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How my friend will handle the months to come remains a scary proposition. The Social Services department has yet to accommodate disability status for her, with no clue when and if they will. It is so awful for people in real need.

But, we can all be proud and grateful for what the private sector in our valley is doing to offer real support in times of real crisis. Thank you so much, Dave Haakenson and board of Swift Eagle Charitable Foundation and Karen Simon and board of Vail Valley Charitable Fund. My friend is so deeply grateful, as am I.

Swift Eagle Charitable Foundation

P.O. Box 1977

Avon, CO 81620

info@swifteagle.org

970-845-7655

Vail Valley Charitable Fund

P.O. Box 1275

Avon, CO 81620

info@vvcf.org

970-845-6339

Michele Hovey

Making the best of it

I just wanted to say thanks to Vail Resorts and the folks cleaning up trash along the interstate last week after Vail Mountain’s opening day was postponed. Thanks for making lemonade out of lemons.

Pastor Jason Haynes

Gracious Savior

Lutheran Church

Thanks for the support

After taking last year off, the Kimberly Linn McDonald Foundation held our 5th Annual Polar Bear Affair at the ski museum on November 10. I want to thank the community for the amazing turnout and the incredible support that you have given to the McDonald family and our foundation over the last six years. Your contributions continue to help fund scholarships for students in the Vail Valley and help those students achieve their dreams. Your wonderful support helps keep Kimberly’s memory alive. We couldn’t do it without you. We hope to see you again next year.

Tama Levine

Board of Directors

KLM Foundation

Where’s the web cam?

Please look at the nice changes occuring on the Vail.com Web site. There are no more current images of the mountain. Instead, Vail Resorts has decided to limit their web losses by limiting the public’s ability to see the lack of snow.

Just thought the public would like to know that money always wins over reality.

Seth Scott

Vail


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