AURORA INTERFAITH COMMUNITY SERVICES

Aurora

News: A quote from 1970 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Norman Borlaug — “You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery” — provides a daily reminder to Aurora Interfaith Community Services that its no-cost emergency services are an invaluable lifeline to vulnerable populations in Colorado’s third largest city.

On Aug. 23, some 200 friends of the organization whose staff and volunteers “lead with faith and compassion for all religions and communities” gathered at the Franciscan Event Center in Centennial for its signature fundraiser, an Italian Garden Party. The goal was to raise at least $45,000 – funds desperately needed to help Aurora Interfaith Community Services continue to serve an ever-increasing number of clients.

In 2022, for example, Aurora Interfaith Community Services served 30,269 people by providing 496,260 meals, $30,000 in assistance for utility and water bills, 151 holiday meal kits and 88 emergency kits for unhoused residents.

By providing help on utility and water bills, “We’re keeping people in their homes,” said executive director Christina Stimson as she pointed out that the payments this year have already topped $60,000.

“The demand is not slowing,” Stimson said, adding that in addition to the doubling of utility and water bill assistance, visits to the organization’s food pantry are up 6,000 over last year.

Interior designer Poonam Moore, who is featured on the HGTV show “Rico to the Rescue,” and her husband, Everett, emceed the event that began with a social hour where guests enjoyed wine donated by members of a Piney Creek neighborhood wine club and hors d’oeuvres made and served by Aurora Interfaith Community Services volunteers.

A pasta dinner, donated by Aurora City Councilman Steve Sundberg and his Legends of Aurora Sports Grill, followed.

Former state legislator Debbie Stafford, who also is a faith-based coordinator for Aurora Mental Health Center, served as auctioneer. Among the high bids: $1,250 for lunch with Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, who attended the Italian Garden Party.

Coffman praised Aurora Interfaith Community Services for the aid it provides, in particular for stepping up in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the height of the pandemic, you were out there feeding people with military precision – people who’d never needed help before.”

About the organization: Aurora Interfaith Community Services had its beginning in a church basement in 1968 when a group of women collected food and clothing for Aurora residents in need. As the years passed, the needs increased, and the organization once known as the Interfaith Task Force of Aurora changed its name to Aurora Interfaith Community Services to better reflect the expansion of the “substantive emergency assistance” provided to those in need, particularly those in the areas surrounding the Anschutz Medical Campus. All services are provided free of cost.

Website: aurorainterfaithcommunityservices.org

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