The Why Behind the Annual Pet Calendar

Making a difference in the lives of our community and members who reside here with their furry friends is important to us. We believe that supporting Foothills Animal Shelter can have a direct impact on our community. When one of the pets at Foothills Animal Shelter finds a fur-ever home, we know that the act of bringing in an unconditional loving animal affects the human just as much as the animal! We like to ask…Who Rescued Who?

That's why we curate our Annual Pet Calendar every year alongside our community's pet pictures, with 100% of the proceeds directly benefiting Foothills Animal Shelter. The calendar is most certainly a collaborative effort with our members and community. We also ask our vendors to donate advertising dollars that help offset the cost of printing the calendar. So when you see an ad in the calendar, know they are supporting this paws-itively good cause!

The pet photos are an outstanding way to share the joy that comes from owning a pet and helping to raise money for a great resource within our community via calendar sales. We express our gratitude to everyone who has been willing to share their photos of their beloved furry friends throughout the years. Thank you for your continued support of Foothills Animal Shelter. 

The How - Pet Calendar Submissions

We are now accepting photo submissions from our members and community for our 13^th Annual Dog and Cat Pet Calendar. All the proceeds from the future sales of the calendars benefit Foothills Animal Shelter. Submit your qualified photos from August 4^th to September 8^th.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR PHOTO TO BE CONSIDERED, THEY MUST FOLLOW THE REQUIRED GUIDELINES BELOW:

• A single dog or cat, or multiple dogs and cats. (No people in the photo please)
• HORIZONTAL FORMAT ONLY- MUST BE LANDSCAPE, NOT PORTRAIT
  
• High resolution images only please. 11in X 8.5in at 300 dpi or above or at least 3300 pixels wide by 2550 pixels high at 300 dpi.
• Click here for a guide on how to send high resolution images from your phone.
• Click here for a guide to find photo resolution on your PC or MAC.
• Photos must be electronic, we cannot accept printed photos.
• Don’t let the background take over, have good composition (see below).
  
• Complete the Smartsheet form and upload your pet pictures on the link/form below:
  
  SUBMIT YOUR PET PICTURES HERE

Please note, we will not be contacting you if your photo does not make the Top 25 list, or if it does not follow the guidelines provided.

Once we receive all the photos for consideration, the C·U·D Calendar Committee selects the top 25 photos and places them online for a community vote. The pet that garners the most votes wins the coveted front cover. The remaining monthly pet photos are then selected by the next 12 highest vote count on the remaining photos.

We then put as many of the other qualified photos in our “Honorable Mention” pages of the calendar; That way everyone may have an opportunity to brag to their friends and family! Please know, we try to include as many photos as possible, but photos that are submitted outside of the guidelines may not be used due to printing quality issues.

Good luck & remember to buy the printed calendars in the fall. They make great holiday gifts! As a reminder, all of the calendar proceeds directly benefit Foothills Animal Shelter when the calendars go on sale later this year.

Be sure to check out our video interviews with some of the pet owners and their pets that made the 2025 calendar!

The Result - A Real Loving Impact

A total of $6,702.39 was raised for Foothills Animal Shelter from the 2025 pet calendar sales and vendor contributions! 

Thank you to all the community members who purchased a calendar or contributed with a photo that made our 2025 calendar so awesome! As 100% of the calendar proceeds directly benefit Foothills Animal Shelter, they thank you as well!

Be sure to check out our video interviews with some of the pet owners and their pets that made the calendar in 2023!

Here is a little information from The Foothills Animal Shelter website to understand why we do this every year.

About Foothills Animal Shelter

Foothills Animal Shelter is an open-admissions facility, which means we never turn away an animal. We care for more than 9,200 orphaned cats, kittens, dogs, puppies and critters every year with a compassionate team of staff and volunteers. (Unfortunately, we cannot accept wild animals; they should be taken to organizations that specialize in their care.) We are a true community resource and offer a variety of services including pet adoption, Jefferson County pet licensing, affordable spaying and neutering, vaccinations, micro chipping and lost and found pets. We are committed to our important mission and the life-saving work that we do every day of the year.

Years Past – Look How Far We’ve Come

For the past 12 years, Credit Union of Denver members and our community have donated a total of $157,340.67 to Foothills Animal Shelter. Our hope is to continue this tradition for years to come. Below are some of the previous calendars’ cover pets!

A big thank you to everyone who participated in this Summer’s Sticker Design Contest! We were blown away by the creativity, talent, and passion shown by all of our amazing community artists.

After receiving a wide variety of incredible entries, our team had the tough task of narrowing it down to just three winners. Each of these talented artists will receive a $250 prize—and, even more exciting, their designs will be turned into real stickers!

Congratulations to our top 3 winners! 

 

Jessica G.

 

Rufino S.

 

Abigail W.

We’re proud to support and celebrate the creativity of our community through fun contests like this one. These custom stickers will be available at lobby days and community events—so be sure to collect them all and show off your community pride! 

🎉🙌🏼 Celebrating Our Amazing Members! 🙌🏼🎉

A heartfelt thank you to all those who attended our Member Appreciation Day & Youth Event! At Credit Union of Denver, our members are the heart of our community!

❤️ Whether you’ve been with us for years or just joined recently, your loyalty and support mean everything. 🌟

#MemberAppreciation #CommunityStrong #CreditUnionLove

We are excited to share that we have awarded a total of $10,000 in scholarships to five individuals who will be furthering their education. This year we saw an abundance of scholarship applications from students on their way to doing remarkable things.

Thank you to everyone who entered this year. We had over seventy applications, creating a tough competition and difficult decisions for our scholarship committee. 

Applications were anonymously reviewed by a group of Credit Union of Denver employee-volunteers. Winners were selected based upon their academic achievement, community involvement, extracurricular activities, essay responses, and other eligibility requirements. Thank you to our scholarship review team for taking the time to learn about each applicant and make those tough decisions. 

Without further ado, below are this year’s scholarship winners.

This fall, we set out on a mission to spread comfort and cheer to the brave little warriors at the Children's Hospital Colorado. 

Over the course of three days C∙U∙D employees volunteered 188 hours of their time to craft cozy, handmade no-sew blankets for the patients of Children's Hospital. 

Children’s Colorado’s Association of Volunteers released an article addressing the need for more blankets at Children's Hospital. 

We were honored with an ambassador visiting from Children’s Hospital. We were so moved learning more about the miracles that Children’s Hospital performs and to be able to play a small part in all that they do for their patients. 

At the end of the three days we donated over 150 blankets!

We hope these blankets will bring the children warmth and hope. It's about more than just blankets, it's about the love, care, and support we can provide to our community, and make a difference where it truly matters. 

This was such a rewarding experience, and we can’t recommend it enough. If you are able, please consider donating to Children’s Hospital, whether that’s no-sew blankets or however you are able.

2024 Children's Hospital Donation

Our Spring 2024 Children's Hospital Campaign raised $2,000 in donations plus our C·U·D match. Thank you to our membership for donating to this great organization. We are happy to continue to support the health and wellness of our community's youth. 

Stay tuned on our Community Page for more opportunities to pay it forward! 

2023 Children's Hospital Donation

We're thrilled to announce that our recent fundraiser for Colorado Children's Hospital generated a donation of $5,554.43! A special thanks to our members and the Lakewood Community for donating.

As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting children's health and well-being, we are honored to contribute to the amazing work they do in providing specialized care and treatment for young patients.

Join us in applauding the dedicated staff, doctors, nurses, and volunteers who make a significant impact on the lives of children and their families every single day.

Together, we can make a difference and bring smiles to the faces of these brave little warriors. Thank you for your continued support! 

Credit Unions for Kids is the brand under which America's credit unions, including Credit Union of Denver, fundraise for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN). Since Credit Unions are member-owned, not-for-profits, our main focus is our members and community. Credit unions are driven by the philosophy of "people helping people", and our support of CMN Hospitals is a great example of the ways credit unions give back and support their communities.

In fact, since the creation of the CU4Kids brand in 1996, the credit union industry has raised $200 million for affiliated children's hospitals! The credit union community has established a wonderful legacy at hospitals across the country, funding breakthrough research, numerous programs and services and construction of new facilities.

DONATE

Donate today! Every little bit makes a difference. Simply select Children’s Hospital Colorado from the dropdown menu, or the local hospital in your state.