Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell Foundation Overview

According to Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell Chairman Mike O'Donnell, "You can't be a first-rate institution without looking out for your community, too."  That is why the firm established a nonprofit charitable foundation in 2005.

The Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell Foundation provides opportunities for current and former lawyers, staff, and their families and friends to build a caring community and to reach out to those in need outside of the firm with volunteer time and donations.

Since it was founded, WTOF has donated over half a million dollars and countless hours to more than 50 charities.  In 2009, 87% of firm personnel volunteered time or donated money to WTOF causes. 

In 2010, the Denver Business Journal recognized WTO with a Partners in Philanthropy award for the good work it does in the community.

WTOF encourages and supports existing individual and group community service efforts and provides additional opportunities for individuals and groups within the firm to work together on community service projects.  WTOF also conducts annual fundraisers and accepts donations on an ongoing basis that are then used to fund community service projects and to match employees' donations to their chosen charitable projects.

WTOF is incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. It is governed by a Board of Directors.

A representative sample of community service projects in which WTOF has supported participation by firm personnel and their families and friends in the past few years includes the following:

• The Gathering Place. On a monthly basis, WTOF volunteers cook and serve a hot breakfast at The Gathering Place, Denver's only daytime shelter serving women and children who are homeless or living in poverty.
• Denver Dumb Friends League. WTOF volunteers walk as a team with their pets in the annual Furry Scurry and collect pledges for DDFL and the animals they serve.

• Food Bank of the Rockies.  WTOF annually participates in the city-wide law firm competition to collect donations of nonperishable food and money to replenish the main food bank serving the Denver area.

• Internet Safety Foundation.  WTOF donated the seed money and WTO volunteers helped launch this nonprofit organization in 2006. We continue to fund the ISF and have assisted with producing: 1) Internet safety summits for teens, parents, educators, and law enforcement around Colorado; 2) Internet safety podcasts by local high school students; and 3) a Web site that serves as a clearinghouse for Internet safety information.
• Denver Kids, Inc. Annually, WTOF volunteers assemble and send care packages and write notes of encouragement to support college kids from Denver who are the first in their families to attend college.
• WTOF participates in various other fundraisers, such as the annual Komen Race for the Cure, that support nonprofit organizations engaged in disease treatment, prevention, and research.
• WTOF organizes collection drives throughout the year for items such as toiletries, school supplies, and cell phones to donate to charity.

For more information, please contact Connie Proulx, Executive Director, Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell Foundation.