Mortenson donates Open tickets to military personnel

Mortenson Construction has donated 1,150 tickets to this week’s U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor to active United States military personnel, including those with NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), NORTHCOM (United States Northern Command), Peterson Air Force Base, the United States Air Force Academy and Fort Carson. The First Army Division West, the U.S. Army Installation Management Agency, the 4th Infantry Division, the 43rd Area Support Group and the Special Forces Airborne were part of the distribution to Fort Carson.
All of the tickets were given to non-commissioned personnel, and some went to wounded troops and Purple Heart recipients.
“As an active member of the Colorado Springs Community, we thought it was the least we could do,” said Clay Benson, construction executive in Mortenson’s Colorado Spring’s office.
Mortenson Construction is currently working on over $140 million in projects at Fort Carson.

Drive-In Autosound has won the first
annual Pioneer Community Give Back

Award. The Colorado Springs-based mobile entertainment dealer, owned by Kevin and Scott Clark, will donate the $10,000 it received from the award to the Fort Carson Officer Spouses' Club Santa's Workshop.

The presentation ceremony will take place Tuesday, July 29, at 4 p.m. at the store's 165 Motor Way location. Pioneer's new award honors dealers for outstanding community service. Drive-In Autosound has supported the military in numerous ways, including special rates and financing for local military, co-hosting football parties and welcoming soldiers returning from deployment.

The Fort Carson Officer Spouses' Club Santa's Workshop expects 2,000 local children with parents at Fort Carson to need gifts this year.

Corporate contributions rise

Corporate contributions among 189 major corporations and corporate foundations in the U.S. and abroad amounted to $10.2 billion in 2006, up from $9.8 billion in 2005, the Conference Board reported in a recent survey of corporate giving to worthy causes.

Total U.S. giving among the 189 corporations polled was $7.9 billion, which represents 62 percent of the overall estimated $12.72 billion in corporate charitable giving in the nation in 2006. Median U.S. contributions were $10.7 million, up from $8.7 million in 2005.

Reflecting the increased global reach of business operations, international grantmaking is becoming more significant to large companies, with overseas charitable contributions at $2.3 billion in 2006.

Health and human services continue to be the top-ranking recipient of corporate support in 2006, with education gaining as a beneficiary category for companies. For the first time since 1999, survey participants reported an upturn in the share of U.S. contributions to education, up 7.1 percent from 2005, to 17.8 percent.

Progressive to plant trees at Memorial Park

Progressive call center employees in Colorado Springs will team up with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 70 native trees in Memorial Park, 1605 E. Pikes Peak Ave. , on Wednesday, Oct. 17. The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies is the third largest car insurance group in the country and fifth largest in Colorado.

About 30 Progressive call center employees were selected to help plant the trees as a reward for their work. The Colorado Springs tree planting is part of Progressive’s “70 Years, 70 Trees” events in which the company is celebrating its 70th anniversary in its six call center communities. In the next three months, Progressive volunteers will plant 420 large trees in Cleveland, Tampa, Austin, Colorado Springs, Phoenix and Sacramento.