Press Release

For Immediate Release                               Contact:      Ilene Miller

February 9, 2004                                                                    Direct: 303.316.6486

Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado Announces
New Partnership to Promote Child Care

(Denver)  – Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado has announced a new first-of-its-kind partnership with six Jewish Agencies to promote child care. Effective February - December 2004, Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado and the Boulder Jewish Community Foundation, Boulder Jewish Day School, Colorado Agency for Jewish Education, Congregation Rodef Shalom, Keshet of the Rockies and the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center have joined forces to promote child care using the Colorado Child Care Contribution Credit as incentive to donors.

Originally passed in 1999, the Colorado Child Care Contribution Credit [C.R.S. 39-22-121] allows “any taxpayer that makes a monetary contribution to promote child care in Colorado may claim an income tax credit of 50 percent of the total contribution.” Donors who make a gift to any of the six participating agencies or the Community Child Care Fund housed at Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado can get back up to 70 cents on every donated dollar in the form of tax credits and federal and state tax deductions.

“CAJE is excited about this project, the whole community invited to work together to raise funds for the children in the Jewish community, our very future. Everybody wins: the donor, the agencies, the Federation, and our children!,” shared Daniel W. Bennett, Executive Director of the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education. Linda Loewenstein, Executive Director, Boulder Jewish Community Center, added “The Boulder community is excited to be a part of this community-wide collaboration and appreciates Federation’s leadership.”

Donors have an opportunity to direct donations through Federation’s annual campaign to any of the six participating agencies. Alternatively, donors can support all six agencies with a gift to the Community Child Care Fund. Donations to the Fund will be disbursed at year-end based on the number of children-service hours provided. 

Boulder Jewish Day School (BJDS) is a non-profit community day school providing a rich environment of academic excellence coupled with Judaic and Hebrew studies for Pre-K through fourth grade. In addition to providing care for children whose parents’ work, BJDS offers after school enrichment programs including but not limited to foreign language, science, physical education, and the arts. More than 40 children attend the school. Approximately, $15,000 in scholarship money makes it possible for low-income families to send their children to the Day School. Child Care donations will be used to support scholarship opportunities, purchase much needed materials and resources to enhance and enrich the preschool program, and purchase recreational equipment for the outdoor space.

Colorado Agency for Jewish Education (CAJE) supports and promotes lifelong Jewish learning, provides educational support to the entire Jewish community, and serves as a bridge to non-Jewish and secular educational institutions. CAJE Special Education and Hebrew High both qualify for the Credit. These two programs serve approximately 1,400 students, ranging in age from 2 to 18. CAJE Hebrew High begins in September and ends in May. CAJE Special Education programs are year-round.  Children with special needs participate in both programs. Child Care donations will help CAJE provide scholarships for participants, recruit and train high quality staff and faculty, and further develop programs that strengthen the Jewish identities of the participants.

Congregation Rodef Shalom Preschool, established and licensed by the State of Colorado in 2001, is the newest Jewish preschool in Denver. The preschool offers a September through May program and a “Super Summer Camp” for children ages 18 months to 5 years. Enrichment classes, such as cooking, science, music, and drama are offered in the afternoons. Gymnastics, music, and Shabbat Party are part of the weekly curriculum. Although the Preschool is licensed for 60 children, 33 children are currently enrolled. Child Care donations will be used to support scholarships, teacher training for special needs and allow the preschool to make physical changes to offer a toddler program.

            Keshet of the Rockies is dedicated to offering a comprehensive Jewish and secular educational program to meet the needs of Jewish students with special needs. Keshet runs from August through June yearly. Keshet supports students with physical, emotional delay, speech and hearing delay, Downs Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, ADHD, ADD, learning disabilities, sensory integration, and pervasive developmental disorders. Keshet currently serves nearly 20 students and is expanding through collaborations with other agencies throughout Denver. Child Care donations to Keshet of the Rockies will help support therapy services (occupational, music, and speech therapy), teacher salaries, classroom materials and supplies, administrative costs, scholarships, and a transitional and vocational training programming.

Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center’s (Loup JCC) Early Childhood Center (ECC) offers year-round, extended care and enrichment classes to children ages 2 through 6. Camp Shai provides care for children in grades 1 through 12 during the summer and school holidays. The J Bar Double C Ranch Camp provides campers with a Judaic journey entering grades 2 through 11. The Sports & Fitness Center provides sports and tennis camps throughout the year.  The JCC serves 7,000 children with its child care programs, all of which seek to include children of all abilities and economic backgrounds.  Child Care donations will help physically expand and increase capacity at the ECC; relocate Camp Shai; renovate and replace equipment at the Ranch Camp; and expand capacity of recreation camps.

A Community Child Care Fund will be housed at Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado offering donors the opportunity to support all six agencies listed above. All of the agencies listed above will receive a share of the Fund at year-end, based on their children’s service hours provided in 2004. Donations to the Community Child Care Fund help ensure children receive quality care at each of the agencies above. It also helps to expand program capacity, support additional services, teacher training, and the purchase of new equipment to enrich the experience of children participating in these programs. 

The Credit sunsets on Dec. 31, 2004. However, HB 04-1119: Child Care Facilities Tax Credit has been introduced by Rep. Lynn Hefley (R) and Senator Jack Taylor (R). After a 55 to 9 vote in the House, the bill is currently before the Senate Finance Committee. The legislation would reauthorize the Child Care Facilities Tax Credit to continue to promote quality child care services throughout Colorado through Jan. 1, 2010.  

More than a dozen Jewish agencies including synagogue preschools, day schools and boarding schools throughout Colorado were invited by Federation to participate in the Child Care collaboration. Federation hosted informational sessions and individual meetings with many agencies to explore their interest in helping to promote the Credit to the community as part of a partnership. After a two-month outreach process, several agencies declined predominantly because they had limited child care costs and wanted to reserve the tax benefit for an exclusive number of major donors.

Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado is the umbrella fundraising, information and social organization for the local Jewish community. Its mission is to build and sustain Jewish life in Colorado, Israel and around the world.