Welcome to Heart of Colorado

It’s HOC RPD Week! Here are a few tips to make it a success:

Registration: When you arrive at the conference, please make the HOC RPD Registration and Help Desk your first stop. Pick up your registration packet, name tag and goodie bag.

The hours and locations are:

• Wed., Sept. 26: SteamPlant Event Center Lobby, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm.
• Thurs., Sept. 27:  SteamPlant Event Center Lobby, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm.
• Fri., Sept. 28: Chaffee County Fairgrounds, 6:30 am – 10:00 am.

Weather: Don’t forget your raincoat, umbrella and fleece. Highs will be in the mid-60s with a chance of showers each day. The prevailing weather pattern in fall is cold evenings and hot afternoons. Being Colorado, this forecast is susceptible to change.  Please check the weather so you know how to pack. Salida is located in high desert.

Transportation: There is limited parking in downtown Salida. Please plan to arrive in advance, as you may need to walk 4 or 5 blocks to the Event Center. Here is a map of the SteamPlant Event Center and downtown Salida: http://goo.gl/maps/kykXV . Note: There is a 2-hour daytime parking limit in downtown Salida on E, F, G and 1st, 2nd and Sackett Streets. Please be mindful of these parking limitations, as you may be ticketed on these blocks. Note: Parking is available North of the SteamPlant on Sackett, the surrounding residential neighborhoods, and municipal parking lots adjacent to the SteamPlant Event Center and the east end of First Street, across the Arkansas River.  You are officially encouraged to carpool and wear comfortable walking shoes. Parking is not an issue at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds.

Special Events: The Heart of Colorado Steering Committee is working hard to plan several special events that show off the region. Please join us for the following:

• Wed. Sept 26th at 5:00 pm, there is an opening reception at the SteamPlant Event Center, followed by a walking tour/gallery open house in downtown  Salida’s newly designated Creative District.
• Thurs. Sept 27th at 4:15 pm, the region’s youth will present in the SteamPlant Event Center Theater. Enjoy a closer look at the Heart of Colorado region through the eyes of local middle and high school students. Join them in an upbeat and creative discussion on how to make community change – don’t miss it!
• Thurs. Sept 27th at 6:00 pm, plan to enjoy a social, delicious local dinner, the keynote speaker  and local entertainment at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds.
• Fri. Sept 28th at 12:00 pm, stay for a drawing of some fantastic door prizes. Complete your conference evaluation and pick up a raffle ticket in advance to be entered in the drawing.
• Learn more about the event agenda.

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Rural Philanthropy Days (RPD) brings together grantseekers and grantmakers to meet the needs of rural communities. The program, unique to Colorado, began in the early 1990s with the first edition of the Colorado Grants Guide. In researching the Guide, the Community Resource Center discovered that only 3% of the funds granted by Colorado's private foundations were awarded outside the Front Range. RPD became the bridge to connect the foundations with rural nonprofits, and provide a marketplace for networking, building relationships, and educating each other on needs and service in the region.

In 1997, a partnership between the Anschutz Family Foundation (AFF) and the Community Resource Center (CRC) was forged to advance the RPD program. Many other foundations from across Colorado have since joined to assist in making RPD a great success in the eight regions across the state.

The Heart of Colorado RPD region is comprised of five counties: Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Park, and Teller. The Heart of Colorado hosts its Rural Philanthropy Days every four years. 2012 finds Salida in Chaffee County hosting the event along the beautiful Arkansas River.  Between events, nonprofit organizations continue to work together to interact with Colorado's funding community -- learning from each other, and collaborating on essential projects. Between events, these ongoing activities are overseen by a Leadership Team comprised of volunteer representatives from each of the five counties.

The Heart of Colorado RPD is grateful to all of our sponsors,, without whom the September 2012 event could not take place.

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Make a weekend out of it! Enjoy all the wonderful activities and fun of this region! Click here to learn more about things to do in the area.   

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