APPLEWOOD PLUMBING HEATING & ELECTRIC SUPPORTS THE FOOTHILLS ART CENTER

Faced with millions of dollars in budget cuts, Colorado public school systems have cut programs such as art and music. Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric (www.ApplewoodFixIt.com) is helping fill the gap by supporting Foothills Art Center as their July $1,000 "Caring Community Giveaway" winner.

"A well rounded education is essential," Applewood President John Ward said. "Applewood isn't just a family business, we are a business comprised of families. Many of our employees have school-aged children, and I understand the struggle they go through as more and more schools are cutting cultural courses."

The Foothills Art Center more than doubled enrollment in summer kids classes this year, according to Reilly Sanborn, executive director. "It's great to see that there is a need and a want for art classes," she said. "Students get a better art education from a center that focuses solely on art," according to Sanborn.

The money from Applewood's "Caring Community Giveaway" will be used to support Camp Foothills, the children's art summer camp. The center is offering nine camps this year and has extended them to five days. This is the first year Foothills Art Center has needed to use a waiting list for the program.

The Foothills Art Center was created 43 years ago, and features artists from across the country and Colorado who teach year-round classes for adults in addition to the summer children's camps.

Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric has served the Denver/Boulder Metro area for more than 37 years and is proud to have been named the 2009 winner of the Better Business Bureau's Torch Award for Marketplace Trust in the Large Business category. They are honored to have achieved the Nexstar Network Select Service Designation and to have been named 2007 City of Golden Rotary Ethics in Business Award winner.