2020-2021 Financial Statements
For the fiscal year ending March 2021
The Bob Telmosse Foundation
Annual Report: Fiscal Year April 1, 2020 - March 31,
2021
Our Mission Statement: The Bob Telmosse Foundation is “Dedicated to
keeping the Christmas Spirit alive and embracing the lives of children and
families in the Pikes Peak Region through community action projects.”
Our Mission: To hold an annual giveaway in the Colorado Springs
area each December. The event is to be open to the public – no reservations, forms
to fill out or proof of income/need are required. Recipients will be
accommodated according to Giveaway stipulations (e.g.: children must be present
to receive any offerings; item limits; etc.) and only while supplies last or
until ending time. (Anyone in line at the cut-off time will still be helped.)
Our Quest: To be able to provide a multitude of items to
families in need in the Pikes Peak Region. These items include toys, stuffed
animals, bikes, books, clothing, blankets, holiday merchandise, household goods
and food. We endeavor to receive enough donations (in kind and financially) so
that everyone who comes to the event leaves knowing their holiday has been made
brighter by the generosity of our local community.
2020 Overview
Board of Directors:
Officers:
Josselynne R. Bippus, President, Interim Treasurer
Carol Reinert, Vice-President
Janelle Bryarly, Secretary
Members at Large:
Nadia Lopez
Nicholas Reidy
Alison Arpin
Cassandra Telmosse Baklund
The
January and February meetings were held at the Pikes Peak Library District’s
21c location.
Board
meetings held after February 2020 were conducted via Zoom due to Covid-19
precautions.
2020 Christmas
Giveaway:
Our Plan: The year 2020 presented some challenges for our
organization. The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions forced us to
change how our event was conducted. But we all knew that the community was
anticipating our annual Christmas Giveaway as the need was especially great
with so many people out of work. We decided to hold a drive-thru event and
limit our giveaway to just bags of food and $10 gift cards.
Our objective was for each family represented in a vehicle to
receive one bag of food and each child present would be given one gift card for
either Wal-Mart or Target. We chose those two stores because of the wide
variety of items sold at each and both offer toys and groceries. They also have
multiple locations so recipients could shop at a store that was convenient for
them. All members of a family were to receive the same store gift cards so if
necessary, cards could be combined for a purchase totaling more than ten
dollars.
Our goal was to raise $20,000 for 1,000
bags of food and 1,000 $10 gift cards – with the understanding that any
additional funds would be used to purchase more items if time permitted. We
exceeded our goal and used some of the money to increase the number of items in
each bag of food as well as purchase more gift cards.
Fundraisers: We did not conduct any fundraising activities during
the year as public gatherings were restricted. Instead, we sent out a plea for
monetary donations so that we could purchase as many $10 gift cards and bags of
food as possible. Requests were made on Facebook and via email and through the
postal service.
Community
Involvement:
Partnerships: Note: Because we assumed that this year’s giveaway
would not be able to be held indoors, we had to modify our master plan and
forego the usual appeal for business involvement. Therefore, the number of
partnerships was significantly lower than in previous years. Partners for this year’s giveaway were:
·
Care and Share of
Southern Colorado
·
Rocky Mountain
Vibes Baseball
·
UCHealth Park
·
Jay’s Thrifty
Thrones
·
Midwest
Barricades
·
Go Team Therapy
Dogs & Handlers
·
Ted’s Bicycles
Major Donors: In-Kind
·
King Soopers
[food]
·
Bill Baker [potatoes]
·
Colorado Springs
Dental Society [toothbrushes]
Financials: Income received (including grants)
for our fiscal year totaled $56,479.70.
Of that amount, $16,500 was from three grants; another 15 businesses and
organizations gifted $18,891.12; and $21,088.58 was from 151 individual donors.
Almost $17,000 was donated in the last few weeks of
December, so that money was not available in time to purchase more food and
gift cards. We also received some donations that were designated for bicycle
purchases only, which we did not offer at this giveaway. The excess revenue
will be carried into our 2021-2022 fiscal year and allow us to make more
advance purchases and take advantage of sales throughout the year.
Major Business / Organization Donors: Financial
Non-grant [$1,000 and Up]
·
Pikes Peak
Brown’s Backers $1,220
·
Warehouse Options $2,000
·
SoCo Auto and
Truck Parts $4,000
·
Olsen Plumbing
& Heating $4,000
·
U.A. of Plumbers
& Pipefitters $5,000
·
I-25 Gap $1,260
Grants Received: Businesses
·
Wal-Mart $4,000 Mission Fund
·
T. Rowe Price $7,500
Mission Fund
·
T. Rowe Price $5,000 Operating Fund
Collection Activities:
Toy Drives: We
did not place any collection boxes in any businesses as we decided not to hand
out toys this year. Also, most businesses were either closed or closed to the
public.
Bike Drives: We
did not hold any bike drives this year, although people could drop off a
donated bike at Ted’s Bicycles to be put in storage for a future giveaway.
Items Received: Non-solicited items that were donated and stored
included clothing from Macy’s department store and blankets from One Nation
Walking Together.
Volunteers: Due to Covid-19 precautions, our use of volunteers at
the event was mainly limited to assembling the bags of food, directing traffic,
counting cars and heads, and handing out the food and gift cards. The total
number of volunteers for those tasks this year was approximately 35-40. In
addition, we also had volunteers in the community who took it upon themselves
to solicit money from family, friends, and co-workers to help us meet our goal
for this year.
The Result: The giveaway was held as a drive-thru event on Dec.
19, 2020 at UCHealth Park, home of the Rocky Mountain Vibes baseball team. The
event was scheduled from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm or for as long as supplies were
available.
At least 757 vehicles were
counted at the distribution area. An unknown number of vehicles exited via the
entrance driveway when informed that we had run out of gift cards. We handed
out more than 1,020 full bags of food and a small quantity of bags that only
held a few food items. Our supply of more than 2,400 gift cards was depleted by
1:30 and all the bags of food were gone by 1:45. Several late arrivals were
turned away without receiving anything.
Conclusion: We feel that
this year’s event was a success in that more than 1,000 families received much
needed food and more than 2,400 children received gift cards. This means that
over 3,400 recipients benefitted from our annual giveaway – and does not
include family members who did not attend but will share in the food and the Christmas
Spirit from knowing that our community cares about providing help for others in
need.
2020 Summary:
In spite of the concerns
and logistical challenges that we faced this year, we were still able to keep
the tradition of The Bob Telmosse Annual Christmas Giveaway alive for the 38th
consecutive year.
Our loyal partners and
volunteers were disappointed that the event had to be curtailed in scope but
are looking forward to helping make the 2021 Giveaway a great success. Many
expressed hope that they will be able to participate in December – as they have
done for many years previously. By not having our usual type of event in which
they could take part, they felt there was a void in their life this Christmas
season.
Although we received
considerably more revenue this year than in recent years, it was primarily because
monetary donations were made in lieu of gifting toys, bikes, and other items
that they would normally purchase themselves. However, some folks gave for the
first time this year because they recognized the need in our community and
sought ways to help others this holiday season.