{"id":74521,"date":"2019-09-27T23:41:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T23:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-bike-race-donates-66000-for-youth-programs\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:56:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:56:59","slug":"cortez-bike-race-donates-66000-for-youth-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-bike-race-donates-66000-for-youth-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez bike race donates $66,000 for youth programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Community
Community organizations received large checks for youth programs from the annual 12 Hours of Mesa Verde mountain bike race, held every May at Phil\u2019s World.<\/span>Courtesy photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The annual 12 Hours of Mesa Verde mountain bike race is not just an intense endurance test, it\u2019s also a major fundraiser for community youth programs.<\/p>\n

This year, $66,000 of race proceeds was donated to local organizations that support the wellness needs of the younger population. The amount raised for donations is the highest yet since the race started in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are humbled and could not have done this without our sponsors, volunteers and participants,\u201d the race board said in a statement. \u201cThe mission of the race is to raise money for programs with a focus on at-risk youth and youth empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the race began, it has donated more than $500,000 to local organizations serving Montezuma and Dolores counties and the Ute Mountain Tribe.<\/p>\n

The Four Corners Child Advocacy Center<\/a> and the Pi\u00f1on Project Family Resource Center<\/a> were the top two beneficiaries, receiving $20,000 each.<\/p>\n

The annual influx of funding pays for a therapist serving youth suffering from mental and physical trauma, said Rose Jergens, executive director or the Advocacy Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore their generous donations, we could only budget for a therapist two days a week; now we have an office and a therapist on four days per week,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Last year, the therapist served 230 youths with more than 1,000 sessions.<\/p>\n

At the Pi\u00f1on Project, the donated funds supports a wide variety of youth activity and mentoring programs, said executive director Kellie Willis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe rely on it heavily to support youth programs, and it pays for an activities coordinator we otherwise could not afford,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is so heartwarming to see this support coming from our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

It funds services for more than 500 kids annually, from youth mentoring and empowerment to outdoor trips and before- and after-school programs.<\/p>\n

Other recipients of the donated funds include Southwest Open School, $6,000; School Community Youth Collaborative, $6,000; High Desert Devo, $6,000; Good Samaritan Center, $2,000 and 170 cereal boxes; Montezuma School to Farm, $2,000; Cortez BMX, $2,000; Southwest Colorado Cycling Association, $500; Operations Graduation, $500; Destination Imagination, $500; and the local Southwest Conservation Youth Corp, $500.<\/p>\n

The 12 Hours of Mesa Verde<\/a> volunteer board includes President Nic McDonald, Vice President Paul Adams, Dani Gregory, Rachel Medina, Cap Allen, Jay Balfour, Kirk Underwood, Sharon Underwood and Nic Stoker.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12 Hours of Mesa Verde donates $66,000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5966,5738,6061,5740,5737,5736,5735,5741],"tags":[408,21,657,13,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-74521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-charity","category-cortez","category-cycling-news","category-frontpage-lead","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter","tag-charity","tag-cortez","tag-cycling","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92416,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74521\/revisions\/92416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74521"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=74521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}