Sometimes a single word is sufficient to describe the positive impact a group of people can have on the world around them. In the case of UPS’s partnership with Adams 14, that word is HOPE.

For the past several years, UPS has volunteered countless hours and contributed financially to the development of Adams 14’s HOPE Family Resource Center, which offers food, clothing, school supplies, uniforms and other basic living resources to students and their families in the District. From the renovation of the old Commerce City jail in 2007 to last week’s installation of new food storage shelving, UPS has been an essential partner in making this initiative successful. Since it opened, Adams 14 has served hundreds of families through HOPE Family Resource Center’s food and clothing pantry.

As part of Global Volunteer Week this month, UPS helped HOPE Family Resource Center Coordinator Mary Ann Mosquera organize, clean and repair sections of the food and clothing pantry. The UPS management team built shelves, moved and organized food and clothing, and committed to helping with a food drive to provide meals for Adams 14 families.

Today I thank the management team from UPS for their contribution. It takes a whole community to successfully educate our students, and UPS is a valued partner in this effort.

A special thanks to:

• John Cooper, UPS Employee Relations Manager, who has long been a friend of Adams 14. He was the first president of the Adams 14 Education Foundation, and he has remained dedicated to improving the lives of students and families in our community.
• David Warren, who is with the engineering group at UPS, stated that volunteering helps him establish personal connections. David believes these personal connections allow him to see the impact that his work has on others.
• Harry Shipley, who is the District Manager for Colorado and Wyoming operations. Harry has volunteered in Adams 14 before, and I thank him for his support and for providing leadership through example.
• Joani Medhus, the UPS Air Division Manager who helped reorganize clothing and shelves in the food and clothing pantry.
• Operations Manager Leonard Tschida and Controller Steve Wilkins, who helped move furniture and shelves in preparation for re-carpeting the food and clothing pantry.
• Steve Martin, Robert Gonzalez, Andy Grizelak and Greg McLaran, who built and installed shelves for food storage. When not building shelves to hold hundreds of pounds of food, Andy Grizelak oversees 1460 pieces of equipment as the UPS Automotive Division Manager. 

Adams 14 understands the value of a strong organizational culture. UPS has a culture of employee giving, and, as though their contribution of labor wasn’t enough, employees also returned to Adams 14 with a truckload full of donated food.

We appreciate the work that UPS is doing to instill HOPE in our community. We value this partnership, and I know our families do too.