Dec. 17, 2025
Aurora, CO – Colorado Gives Day marked a new individual donation record for the Community College of Aurora Foundation (CCAF). The Foundation received nearly 250 individual donations in the spirit of supporting student success, raising over $71,000 on December 9. It was the Foundation’s second successful fundraising campaign this fall, bringing the total funds raised to over $171,000 in this season of giving. The funding supports Community College of Aurora (CCA) student scholarships and emergency assistance, ensuring more students stay on the path to a college credential and increased economic opportunity.
The Foundation’s Executive Director, John Wolfkill, shared his appreciation for the community’s transformative support. Because of the generosity of so many supporters investing in CCA during Colorado Gives Day, we will award over $1 million in scholarships and emergency assistance grants this year. Your investment means more first-generation, parenting and traditional students will earn college credentials that lead directly to greater career opportunities. Thank you!
CCAF’s mission is to support CCA’s priorities and provide life-changing opportunities for students by developing philanthropic resources, community connections, and industry partnerships. Those local relationships make up many of the record-breaking number of donations received. During the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year, these funds will go to student parents like Sandy Fernandez Tapias. Now in her second year in the Aspiring Educator Program, she’s fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a teacher with help from the Molson Coors Dream Scholarship and the Her Potential Scholarship.
This award is more than just financial aid; it is the gift of aspiration and ambition, to become something else, something different, something higher than what I am. I thank you for sharing your material, intellectual, and social wealth with me,
Fernandez Tapias said. I will devote myself to doing the same by sharing my knowledge, experience, passion, and myself with those around me.
Over 12,000 students attend CCA, more than half of them the first in their family to ever pursue higher education. Scholarships make earning an education a reality for students who might not have been able to do it alone. Jesse McKay recently graduated from CCA with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Diesel Power Mechanics thanks to support from the Jonathan Rutledge Ehrmann Memorial Scholarship. Jesse was recently featured in CCA’s Alumni in Action video series.
The biggest thing that I have learned is that we all need support along the way, and it is people like yourselves who answer the call, that reassure me it is ok to ask for that support,
McKay said. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for this.
Colorado Gives Day and Miles With Mordecai Raised Over $171,000
Before Colorado Gives Day, the college held the first ever, Miles With Mordecai challenge.
CCA President, Dr. Mordecai Brownlee, walked all 71 miles of the High Line Canal in just three days to raise awareness and support for CCA’s student emergency assistance funds. The campaign raised $98,500 to help students with needs like rent support, groceries, and transportation.
Colorado Gives Day is an annual statewide financial giving movement to support local non-profit organizations. CCAF participates every December, but any time of year is a good time to give. Visit CCAF’s website to make a gift or to learn more about how to support the Foundation and students at CCA.
About the Community College of Aurora
The Community College of Aurora (CCA) provides high-quality instruction and student support services to Aurora, Centennial, and Denver, Colorado. With a vision to aspire to be a college where every student succeeds, CCA is the most diverse college in the State of Colorado. Focused on creating social and economic mobility for its students, the college offers courses on three campuses, online, and through its high school concurrent enrollment programs. For more information, visit www.ccaurora.edu.
About the Community College of Aurora Foundation
The Community College of Aurora Foundation (CCAF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing student success and high-quality education at CCA. The Foundation raises philanthropic resources, forges community and industry partnerships, and cultivates donor engagement. CCAF is committed to stewarding contributions with integrity and transparency, guided by the vision to support CCA in being the college where every student succeeds. For more information, visit https://auroragives.org.
Contact:
Courtney Butler
Executive Director of Strategic Communications and Special Initiatives
Strategic Communications and Alumni Engagement
P: 303-340-7201 | E: [email protected]