ABOUT US

Raising Kindness 

Raising Kindness Colorado strengthens the greater Denver community by providing children and families the opportunity to learn about the importance of volunteerism, leadership, and community engagement. 

In 2019, Raising Kindness Colorado organized events for school-aged
children to create impactful hands-on service learning projects that benefited local non-profit organizations. Previous public and private event beneficiaries include Cat Care Society, Colorado Pet Pantry, Covenant Cupboard Food Pantry, Family Tree, Jewish Family Service, Mount Saint Vincent, Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation, Veteran’s Health Administration, and There With Care.   

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Raising Kindness offered virtual and remote opportunities for children to volunteer safely.

● Created artwork for healthcare heroes
● Packaged snack packs for students in the Cherry Creek School District
● Assembled hygiene kits for Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
● Participated in a holiday toy drive organized through Covenant Cupboard Food Pantry
● Organized a diaper and wipes drive for WeeCycle
● Painted kindness rocks for the community 

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Pandemic projects:

GOING FORWARD

Future projects 

Raising Kindness Colorado continues to monitor the pandemic and plan events and volunteer opportunities accordingly. We plan to organize smaller in-person events in outside venues and provide more opportunities for children, families, and self-organized groups to create projects independently and remotely.

Success

Founded April 2019

450+ participants

2,750+ interactive projects 

2,200+ lbs of perishable items donated 

Benefiting 10 Denver Metro non-profit organizationsations

Team

Kareen Shapiro, MSW, LCSW

Kareen Shapiro, MSW, LCSW co-founded and co-directs Raising Kindness Colorado. She also works as a social worker in the fields of adoption and surrogacy. She spends her summers as a camper care specialist at an overnight summer camp in the Midwest. Prior to her current work, she practiced social work in Chicago and worked in the fields of mental health and child welfare. She is married and has two children, ages 10 and 13. Originally from the Midwest, she has lived in Denver for the past thirteen years. Kareen has a Master of Social Work degree from Loyola University Chicago and an undergraduate degree from Miami University. She has been working as a licensed clinical social worker for the past 20 years.

Jenny Emerson, CPA

Jenny Emerson, CPA co-founded and co-directs Raising Kindness Colorado. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Masters and Bachelors in Accounting. Jenny started her career at Deloitte & Touché in the Audit practice in St. Louis. She switched gears and was a professional recruiter for 8 years for national, and boutique firms in St. Louis, Boston and Denver. Jenny has two children, Courtney(10) and Billy(9). She is an active volunteer in her community. She was awarded Cottonwood Creeks’ Elementary Schools ‘Volunteer of the Year’ in 2017-2018 and Girl Scouts of Colorado 'Volunteer of Excellence' in 2020.  She is is currently serving as her daughter's Girl Scout Leader and Cookie Manager, and her son’s Cub Scout Leader. Jenny recently served on the Cherry Creek School Districts’ Parents’ Council Board and participated in the Leadership Cherry Creek program in 2020. Currently, Jenny is pursuing her MA in Counseling at the University of Colorado-Denver! 

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