Big Changes for DLELC
DLELC has voted to dissolve. First, here is some background. The property in Sun Valley housing Denver Lions Early Learning Center, formerly known as Rude Park, is and has been owned by the Denver Lions Foundation. The Rude Park Board changed into the Denver Lions Early Learning Center for fundraising as a 501c3. This fundraising would have been to replace the building. With recent events at the Foundation, it has been determined that this fundraising will not be possible in the near future. The survey conducted near the end of 2024 indicated the club would prefer to sell the building and continue supporting Early Childhood Education in Sun Valley and Denver. Recent attempts to bolster the DLELC board have not generated any additional members.
With this background and the fact that the president and treasurer were stepping down without replacement, the board voted to dissolve DLELC. As of January 1, 2025, the foundation board has assumed all assets and liabilities for DLELC.
Moving forward, the Foundation will deal directly with maintenance issues, support early childhood education, and sell the building formerly Rude Park. Two groups have been created to do this.
Roy Martinez, Lion Andrew Neal, and Lion Dan Kiel have agreed to negotiate a letter of Intent to Sell with Evergreen. They have been given the go-ahead to contract with ULC to do this. Lion Flossie has agreed to provide input at this time. Once the letter of intent is created, it will be reviewed, possibly modified, and voted on by the Foundation Board. It will be signed and delivered to Evergreen if the board approves it. The LOI will contractually obligate the Foundation to negotiate in good faith toward sale exclusively with Evergreen. It will not oblige the Foundation to sell the property to Evergreen. Once a LOI is signed and delivered, the Foundation will create a 3–4-member committee to negotiate the sale with Evergreen.
The second group is a new committee for the foundation and club. The Early Childhood Education Committee was formed to support Early Childhood Education in Denver and the Sun Valley neighborhood. This committee is currently chaired by Shiela Van de Graaph, with additional members Dottie Lynn and Anita Albrect. They have agreed to work with DLELC/Rude Park to maintain the building for Mile High Learning, which provides Montessori childcare there. Additionally, they will be developing our support for early childhood education before, during, and after the sale of Rude Park.
After the sale is negotiated, the membership will be surveyed to ensure this is the direction to proceed. Then, the foundation board will vote. If the sale is approved by the foundation board, it will happen. If not, we will look for other solutions to the aging building problem.
With the changes that are taking place, we believe we will be better able to support early childhood education. If you see the individuals who have stepped up to make this happen, please thank them or even offer to help.