Conditions at Canyons were glorious Thursday afternoon – blue sky, bright sun and temperatures in mid-30s keeping snow just about perfect for the representatives from nearly two dozen non-profit groups enjoying Vail EpicPromise’s appreciation day. They skied and during apres discussed the grants they received from the company.
Park City Mountain CEO Deirdra Walsh told the crowd their work improves the lives of everyone in the community in countless ways.
“The causes that you're focused on are so important to this community and I'm thrilled to announce that we have contributed to the Park City community through EpicPromise $4.5 million.”
Walsh said community roundtables help set the foundation's philanthropic priorities.
“As a result of that listening, we were able to commit $250,000 to Mountainlands Community Housing. We've heard a lot about early childhood. I'm really proud to stand here today that Park City Mountain and EpicPromise was one of the founding funders of PC Tots and the incredible work that they do.”
PC Tots Executive Director Sue Banerjee said her organization received somewhere around $60,000 from EpicPromise. She explained how the funds will help the PC Tots mission, by investing in staff and finding ways to serve more children.
“Our staff is almost 99.9% women. They come from diverse backgrounds, but historically have been underpaid for the work that they do. We've implemented benefits for them health care, we've increased their salaries, and we just want to keep that momentum going. We have about 240 children on our waitlist right now and only have a capacity for 100 kids. So, getting these kinds of grants, community involvement helps us to expand to meet these unmet needs.”
PC Tots Program Director Melissa Mendez said that investment in turn helps families and children in the program.
“It will trickle down to our students, our families, we will get so many positive outcomes for children and they will be school-ready when they leave. Continuity of care, especially in early childhood education is extremely important. These are the years when children are attaching. So it's super important to keep our staff.”
During the afternoon celebration, Walsh also announced the resort will replace all the cabins on the Red Pine Gondola. The retired cabins will be auctioned off in a partnership with the Early Childhood Alliance as a fundraiser for that group.
KPCW is an EpicPromise grant recipient, receiving $7,500 in cash and $35,000 in in-kind contribution.