Traveling to Golden, Colorado, interns from the DNCC took part in an ongoing volunteer project today, landscaping a home built for wounded Iraq War veteran Staff Sergeant Travis Strong and his family.The home is a joint project of the DNCC, Homes for Our Troops, America’s Credit Unions, and the National Journal Group, and construction began back in April (we’ve talked about this on the DemConvention blog before).

With the home nearing completion, DNCC interns and credit union volunteers spent the day turning the former construction site surrounding the house from a dirt lawn:

…into a lush green yard: 

In her first visit to Colorado since her husband clinched the nomination, Michelle Obama made a stop in Denver today and greeted representatives of the DNCC and leaders from Denver-area volunteer organizations who are coordinating Delegate Service Day on Wednesday, August 27. Today, the DNCC announced that Michelle Obama and Colorado First Lady Jeannie Ritter will co-chair the effort.

We’re happy to say that the plot of land we stood on months ago in Golden, Colo. has now been transformed into a new home for disabled Iraq veteran SSG Travis Strong and his family.  DNCC staff joined local credit unions, the Colorado Building Trades Council and the National Journal Group in the Homes for our Troops Build Brigade this weekend -- a truly remarkable project.  With the help of hundreds of volunteers, what started on Friday as a concrete building base became a fully-built weather-proof house by Sunday.  Also visiting the site and Strong family over the weekend were DNCC CEO Leah D. Daughtry, Lieutenant Governor Barbara O’Brien, Congressman and Senatorial candidate Mark Udall and Congressman Ed Perlmutter.  Take a look at this video to see how such an amazing project came together and why it matters so much.

Since our hockey wager winnings arrived from the Republican Convention last week, we felt as though we needed to send a little something in return to our friends in the Twin Cities.  Earlier today a donkey-gram showed up at the Republican National Convention headquarters to convey our gratitude in full measure, which the GOP captured in this web video:

While the Republicans gave you a taste of our singing donkey’s exceptional talents, here’s the rest of what he sang (to the tune of Yankee Doodle):

The hockey wager’s been and gone,
And as you know we won it,
We’ll make sure you don’t forget, with a D.N.C.C. sonnet,

We love Walleye, yes we do!
Sent from our contender,
How nice to have a sample taste of Victry’ in November.

When Conventions come to town,
We know we’ll both be frantic,
Luckily we’ll be well fed – best fish this side o’ the Atlantic.

We love Walleye, yes we do!
This we will remember,
How nice to have a sample taste of Victry’ in November.

And so the Wild put up a fight,
Their skaters drew a big buzz,
They change positions on the ice as fast as John McCain does.

We love Walleye, yes we do!
Deep-fried to an ember,
How nice to have a sample taste of Victry’ in November.

Now the Avs have also lost,
Beyond all comprehension,
At least their rink will soon be home to the very best convention.

We love Walleye, yes we do!
Not to be an offender…
But it’s nice to have a sample taste of Victry’ in November.

While the wager’s been fun, I think with this we can put it to rest.

UPDATE: Check out this video from the Denver Rescue Mission

Today we were happy to see our delivery of walleye arrive from the Republican National Convention folks.  If you haven’t been following our friendly wager, the delicious Minnesota fish was our prize after the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Western Conference Semi-Finals.  Instead of enjoying the fish ourselves, we decided to donate the walleye to the Denver Rescue Mission, a set of local homeless shelters.  DNCC staff member Marisa McAuliffe, who was featured on our blog last fall for her extensive volunteer work at the Mission, shuttled the frozen fish over to their Lawrence Street facility, which provides 200 beds and free meals for Denver’s homeless.  We’re not sure when it will be cooked, but it’s sure to be a treat.  This recipe caught our eye shortly after the Avalanche victory over the Wild, so it’s definitely our recommendation for the Mission.

Thanks to our friends in Minneapolis and to the Avs for winning!

UPDATE: Check out this video of our tree planting in Sunnyside!

Rounding out a week of activities around Earth Day, many of our staff will don T-shirts and old jeans and get their hands dirty Saturday morning at a tree planting in Northwest Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood. The planting of 400 trees will increase the tree canopy in one of Denver’s most underserved and least shady neighborhoods.

Our participation in the project is part of “DNCC Service Days,” an effort to give back to the community that has been such a gracious host, and reflects our commitment to making this year’s Democratic Convention the most environmentally-sustainable event of its kind.

The project is part of the Mile High Million, Mayor John Hickenlooper’s initiative to plant more than 1 million trees in metro Denver over the next 19 years. In a bit of a warm–up exercise, some of my colleagues participated yesterday in another city-sponsored tree planting on Auraria Parkway, not far from the Pepsi Center, home of our 2008 Convention. You can check out our work – and perhaps catch a bit of shade – when you arrive here in August.

More from Earth Week at the DNCC:

• Green Screen Episode 2: Climate Change
• Earth Day Must Read: DNCC Commitment to Greening Democratic Convention is 'About Stewardship'
• Democratic National Convention Committee Rolls Out Technology Strategies Behind The Most Environmentally Sustainable Democratic Convention To Date
• Speaker Pelosi, DNCC Announce Green Delegate Challenge For 2008 Democratic National Convention
• Greening the 2008 Democratic National Convention 

In February we posted about the great Homes for our Troops project that we have undertaken with the Republican National Convention, the Credit Union National Association and the National Journal Group.  In the months leading up to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, staff in both Colorado and Minnesota will work to build a house in each Convention host city for severely wounded American troops.

We are now happy to say that we have come one step closer to providing a specially adapted home to Staff Sergeant (SSG) Travis Strong and his family here in Colorado.  On a plot of land in the town of Golden, representatives of the partner organizations, including our own CEO, Leah Daughtry, broke ground with the Strong family during a late-winter Colorado storm yesterday morning.  Despite the cold, there was tremendous excitement in the small tent filled with media, organization members and family supporters.



As part of our DNCC Service Days initiative, our Convention staff is now eager to get involved with the construction of the Strong family household.  As Leah said at yesterday’s event, “We’re looking forward to hammering some nails, hanging some dry wall and laying some sod, as this will be a labor of love for a true American hero.”

Be sure to check back on the blog to find out about our progress with Homes for our Troops.

 Number eight in the DNCC “Service Days” series brought Convention staff to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver’s administrative offices earlier today.  In a warehouse with towers of boxes filled with donations from the Boys and Girls Clubs’ corporate partners, DNCC staff sorted and shelved the items in preparation for their distribution to children across the city.  From backpacks to clothing to sporting equipment, volunteers organized the gifts in order to help make the process of moving everything from the warehouse to children’s hands as quick as possible.  Additionally, volunteers broke down the boxes used to store the donations and packed a large truck full of cardboard to be recycled.

While the Convention may seem a long way off, there’s a lot going on at the DNCC as we lay the groundwork for the historic event that will put our nominee on a path to victory in November. With all the focus on the primary race, you may have missed some of the news the Convention in Denver is making. Check out just a few of the stories from this week.

UPDATE: Check out this video for a taste of a few of the pieces of art found in our office.

Yesterday we posted here on our service project at Clinica Tepeyac in Denver -- part of the DNCC Service Days series.  For a closer look at our service project and Texas State Senator Van de Putte’s visit, check out our new video chronicling the event below.