Mary Cronin to receive Spirit of Denver Award from League of Women Voters-Denver

July 6th, 2010 8:47pm

Mary Gittings Cronin, longtime  CEO of The Piton Foundation, will receive the prestigious Spirit of Denver Award  from the League of Women Voters of Denver  (LWVD) at  Visions of the City 2010, Tuesday, July 13 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt, 1750 Welton St.

Mayor John Hickenlooper will also give his Visions of the City address at 7:30 p.m. The event supports the League of Women Voters of Denver Education Fund, which pays for non-partisan information on elections and local government.

“As CEO of the Piton Foundation, Mary Gittings Cronin has supported quality public education for all children,” noted LWVD co-president Buzzy Hassrick.  One lasting contribution was Piton’s support of a public education campaign to approve a sales tax to fund preschool for 4-year olds. By 2009, more than 5,100 4-year olds from low income families received full-day preschool education.  The fund remains in place to support 4-year olds well into the future. 

For more than 20 years, Piton has marketed the federal earned income tax credit to more than 1 million eligible taxpayers in Colorado. “It is the single most effective strategy nationally for moving hard-working families from poverty to the middle class,” Hassrick added.  In 2009, low income residents received back nearly half a billion dollars in tax credits, which benefits not only these families, but businesses in their communities.  

For more information and to register for Visions of the City, call 303-321-7571 or visit http://www.lwvdenver.org.

Posted in: Leadership

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