Colin’s Hope Named a Philanthropitch 2020 Finalist
Colin’s Hope has been named as one of only six finalists for Philanthropitch 2020. After being narrowed down in a tough process, Colin’s Hope will take the stage on May 12 at the LBJ Auditorium at UT Austin to pitch an exciting, sustainable solution for Travis County’s drowning prevention & water safety needs.
Congratulations to all 6 finalists! Get your tickets TODAY to see all of these wonderful organizations make their pitch and highlight the incredible work they are doing.
BEST THANK YOU EVER to Philanthropitch and Presenting Sponsor Legacy Collective’s Austins Giving Circle.
Colin’s Hope Announced as 2020 Philanthropitch Semi-Finalist
Colin’s Hope is a proud Semi-Finalist of the 8th year of Philanthropitch Austin! Philanthropitch is a social impact fast pitch competition helping innovative nonprofits scale and expand impact. To date, Philanthropitch has given over $1.2 million in donations to over 75 organizations.
As a winner of Philanthropitch Austin in 2015, Colin’s Hope truly understands the impact this competition can have on drowning prevention efforts. Stay tuned, as Austin finalists will be announced on March 6!
Special Thank You to Philanthropitch for recognizing the important work that Colin’s Hope is doing year-round to save lives.
Colin’s Hope Thanks You for a Night Full of HOPE!
WOW! What…A…Night!
To say this year’s Best Day Ever Party to Prevent Drowning exceeded Colin’s Hope’s expectations would be an understatement. Here are some reasons why…
We were honored to have Olympians, Elli Overton, Sandy Neilson-Bell and Garrett Weber-Gale, share the spotlight and share why they Team Up with Colin’s Hope.
We are grateful to have spent an incredibly meaningful evening with committed sponsors and supporters! The Best Day Ever Party is one of our proudest (and BEST) days of the year. We are thankful for those who shared it with us.
Our guest’s enthusiastic participation took the night from a BEST NIGHT EVER to absolutely UNFORGETTABLE, because…
Together, we raised almost $250,000!
Truly, we had MORE FUN, made MORE MONEY, and closed the evening with even MORE HOPE than ever before. These funds will lend essential support year-round to our proven water safety programs and drowning prevention initiatives. Whether it was time, talent, resources or dollars – each and every contribution was an important addition to moving our work forward. We could not be more grateful!
A Best Day Ever Thank You to our photographer! Lisa Wolniewitz – Time Knot Forgotten
YMCA Honors Colin’s Hope as the 2016 Community Partner of the Year
It is with great pride that we announce that the YMCA of Austin has honored Colin’s Hope with the Community Partner of the Year Award at their Annual Meeting on the evening of June 13th.
The theme of the night was “Grow Good” and we know that together, we grow so much more good than we could ever do alone. Since the creation of the Preschool Swim Safety Program partnership in 2014, we have worked together to serve over 1,500 preschoolers in the Austin area. To see a peek at just one of the amazing things we do together, take 4 minutes to watch this beautiful video of the program and partnership. https://vimeo.com/195393611
THANK YOU to our YMCA family for this amazing award! We look forward to everything that this partnership will continue to bring to the community.
Athlete Ambassadors Swim To Prevent Drowning
Last week, two amazing Colin’s Hope Athlete Ambassadors took to Lake Austin with the hope of saving lives. Meredith Terranova and Jaime Slaughter are phenomenal athletes with a passion for water safety. In an effort to raise awareness about drowning prevention, they chose to swim in honor of Colin Holst, Colin’s Hope, and the 65 Texas children who have lost their life to a drowning in 2016.
The swimmers kicked off their journey at 6:15am on July 12 after brief interviews with Fox 7 News. Meredith and Jaime spent roughly six hours in the water, ending their journey near 360 bridge. Though they battled some strong wind and whitecap waves, the two Ambassadors took on the challenge with a smile.
Colin’s Hope would like to send a special thank you to Meredith and Jaime’s safety crew! These fantastic individuals worked effortlessly to make sure the swim went smoothly, and supported Meredith and Jaime throughout their journey!
You can also make a donation to Meredith’s ongoing quest here.
Spring 2016 Reel Change Film Frenzy – People’s Choice Award
Colin’s Hope had the pleasure of participating in the Spring 2016 Reel Change Film Frenzy, hosted by Lights. Camera. Help! The competition was fun, fierce, and quick, with only 1 week to shoot and edit our story into a 10-minute film.
Thanks to everyone’s hard work – our fabulous film maker, Deborah Toodle, the wonderful film crew, and all the great supporters of Colin’s Hope – we walked away from the Frenzy with the People’s Choice Award!
Colin’s Hope receives NDPA Community Lifesaver Award
Colin’s Hope is incredibly proud and honored that OUR work has been acknowledged both locally and now nationally with the the National Drowning Prevention Alliance 2016 Community Lifesaver Award. Thank you to all our sponsors, partners, donors and volunteers who are helping us work towards our vision of a world where children do not drown.
Congratulations, Colin’s Hope has been awarded a 2016 NDPA Community Lifesaver Award.
With this award, the National Drowning Prevention Alliance desires to acclaim and honor exceptional work in the advancement of water safety and drowning prevention at the community level prior to our annual conference.
The criteria for the award review are an individual or organization’s water safety work, with at least two of the following:
Assumed a leadership role in local or regional awareness of the potential for drowning ·
Demonstrated outstanding achievement in creating awareness of proven drowning prevention strategies
Made a significant contribution (such as development and implementation/distribution of a product or program) that significantly improved water safety for children and/or adults
Successfully promoted the use of new drowning prevention trends or technologies
Viewed as a local or regional advocate for drowning prevention by increasing public attention at the policy making level
Successfully implemented an innovative existing or new program in an area where none previously existed
Successfully implemented an innovative existing or new program with the foundation to continue a minimum of five years
An award ceremony will be held at the 2016 National Drowning Prevention Alliance Educational Conference in Phoenix, AZ on Tuesday March 29 at 3pm during our general session.
Congratulations and thank you for your strong work in water safety and drowning prevention!
Lake Pointe Elementary raises over $1K for drowning prevention
Best Monday Ever with our amazing young leaders and water safety ambassadors at Lake Pointe Elementary! Their student council led Hope Floats Craft Fair which raised $1256.07 for Colin’s Hope and drowning prevention! We are so thankful for their efforts. Our crew of supporters that went to receive the big check included Colin’s mom Jana & Colin’s sister Kayla.
2015 Nonprofit of the Year
Colin’s Hope was chosen as the 2015 Westlake Nonprofit of the Year at the recent Westlake Chamber of Commerce Best of the Westies Awards luncheon. We are proud to have received this award for our working providing quality volunteer experiences and water safety education for Westlake students and families. Thanks to all who voted for us. We look forward to continuing our drowning prevention work in the Westlake community.
