Wildfires continue to rage across the West, taking a tragic toll on lives and property. These mega-fires are fueled by more frequent, severe heat waves and intense drought -- a direct result of a changing climate. Colorado is no stranger to extreme blazes and fluctuating weather patterns. However, the severity of these factors has culminated into one of the most devastating wildfire seasons on record. Please see below for containment updates on Colorado’s five largest wildfires:
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Grizzly Creek Fire: 32,431 acres, 91% contained
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Williams Fork Fire: 12,157 acres, 10% contained
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Pine Gulch Fire: 139,007 acres, 91% contained
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Cameron Peak Fire: 102,596 acres, 4% contained
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East Fork Fire: 1,682 acres, 85% contained
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Today, Governor Polis visited the Eastern Plains: Sterling, Yuma, Otis, and Fort Morgan. The Governor recapped his experiences touring adaptive organizations on the Eastern Plains during a press briefing at Morgan Community College (MCC) with Betsy Markey, the Executive Director of OEDIT, Rick Garcia, the Executive Director of the Department of Local Affairs, and Angie Paccione, Executive Director at the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
The Governor had the rare opportunity to meet in-person with hardworking community leaders who are reopening schools in the area, continuing to build momentum for nonprofits providing critical community services using dollars received from Colorado's COVID Relief Fund -- and local farmers, who are effectively managing the public health crisis and keeping our agricultural economy strong.
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COVID RELIEF FUND RECIPIENTS |
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Multiple organizations on the Eastern Plains have received support from Colorado’s COVID Relief Fund, and countless generous individuals in Colorado, as well as local and multinational companies, have contributed to the fund. Significant corporate donations from the Denver Broncos, IKEA, and Kaiser Permanente have allowed us to raise millions of dollars with zero administrative overhead, as that work is being contributed by Mile High United Way. Every dollar donated goes right out the door to organizations that need it.
To date, the COVID Relief Fund has provided roughly $1.6 million to organizations serving counties on the Eastern Plains, including Yuma, Washington, Sedgwick, Phillips, Lincoln, Cheyenne, Morgan, Logan, and Kit Carson.
The Governor visited the following COVID Relief Fund recipients today:
Rural Communities Resource Center (RCRC): A grassroots nonprofit that serves Yuma, Washington and surrounding counties, developing a wide-range of programs and services to improve residents’ health and well-being. RCRC received a $25,000 grant to help keep their doors open and provide direct rent and utility assistance to those in need, as well as support to parents and students transitioning to online learning.
OneMorgan County: A trusted hub for immigrant and refugee residents in Northeastern Colorado. OneMorgan County received a $25,000 grant to create and distribute COVID-19 prevention information in seven of Morgan County’s most prevalent languages, a key resource for a county with a large foreign-born and refugee population.
Early Childhood Council for Yuma, Washington & Kit Carson Counties: Received a $20,000 grant to provide information, resources, support, and supplies to early learning and child care providers across all three of these counties. The Council helped deliver food, health and safety supplies, and key personnel so that early learning centers and homes could remain open safely, or reopen, and provide care to the children of essential workers.
S.H.A.R.E Inc: Received a $10,000 grant to help support its operations during a time of increased demand. Sadly, S.H.A.R.E., like so many domestic violence shelters across the state and country, is experiencing a sharp increase in demand for their services as levels of abuse rise due to the pandemic.
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ADAPTIVE BUSINESSES & SCHOOLS |
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Our agriculture sector contributes nearly $47 billion to our state’s economy each year. There can be no comprehensive economic recovery without our ranchers and farmers, whose work is absolutely essential to our physical and economic well-being.
The Governor visited the following adaptive businesses in Logan and Morgan counties today:
The Annex: A co-working space created in conjunction with the Logan County Economic Development Corporation (EDC), and funded by grants from our Office of Economic Development and International Trade and our Department of Local Affairs. The Annex provides a safe space to work for people who are not able to work at home, and it was in operation before the pandemic. However, their demand has only increased during these unusual and challenging times.
Logan County and the Logan County EDC had the foresight to recognize the importance of remote working opportunities as a way to boost entrepreneurship in the region. While no one could have predicted our “new normal” brought on by COVID-19, this forward-thinking model has proved immensely valuable right now. When many are forced to work from home, The Annex adds incentives for employers to hire remote workers in eligible rural areas of the state.
Harms Family Farm: A 4th generation dry land farm in the town of Otis, CO run by Haley Harms, who is a 5th generation Coloradan, and a first generation female farmer and college graduate.
Morgan Community College Precision Agriculture Program: The ability for our agriculture and livestock producers to not only survive, but thrive during this time, is a testament to the effectiveness of Morgan Community College’s precision agriculture program, business education programs, and an upcoming agribusiness incubator. In addition to its agricultural programs, MCC holds the distinction as the first two-year college in the State of Colorado to offer an accredited, four-year nursing program, which launched last fall.
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Next Wednesday is the last day families can apply for Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT). P-EBT provides eligible families with funds to help buy food since schools were closed this spring due to the pandemic. Households that were eligible for free or reduced-price meals at schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program can receive up to $279 per eligible child in benefits to buy food.
P-EBT is for all families with eligible students, regardless of immigration status, and P-EBT is not part of the public charge rule. Currently, more than 200,000 eligible students still need their families to apply for these vital food benefits. Some families who were enrolled in SNAP benefits this spring may have automatically received P-EBT on their SNAP cards back in July, but all other eligible families must apply before September 23, 2020.
These are challenging times, but Coloradans across the state are persevering and coming together to bounce back stronger than before. This collaborative spirit was on full display today in Northeast Colorado. No region gets left behind in our recovery. For our state to fully thrive, we need a strong, vibrant Eastern Plains economy and community, and we are doing everything we can to support local efforts to rebound and reopen.
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