Broomfield nonprofit receives surprise $10,000

Apr. 9—Daniel Jaramillo was so appreciative that he could hardly wait to surprise his wife with a gift for their foundation.

Guys Who Give, a group of men who gives quarterly gifts to local nonprofits, chose Daniel "The Lion" to receive a surprise gift of more than $10,000.

Daniel Jaramillo attended a Guys Who Give meeting, where his and his wife's foundation, Daniel "The Lion," was nominated to receive their quarterly gift. When Jaramillo found out his foundation had been selected, he saw the opportunity for the surprise.

"Because I was (at the meeting) I already knew, but we thought we'd have fun with it and surprise my wife," he said.

Little did he know, Guys Who Give had received an anonymous donation of $5,000, meaning the amount of money Daniel Jaramillo thought they were receiving was effectively doubled.

A group of men from Guys Who Give along with members of the Broomfield Community Foundation presented the Jaramillos with their surprise check.

Daniel Jaramillo held back tears, but only just somewhat.

"We were almost ugly sobbing in there," he said after the check presentation.

Guys Who Give is a group of men who band together to make a difference in their communities. Each quarter, every individual in the group gives $100 to the organization. Those funds are then distributed to local organizations and nonprofits nominated by group members. Guys Who Give donates approximately $40,000 per year from each chapter, with the goal of using the power of group efforts to make a lasting change. Guys Who Give has chapters across the U.S. and one in Canada.

"Not everyone has the big checks that they can write to foundations that they're passionate about, but if you can leverage the power of everyone giving ... you can really make a big impact," Daniel Jaramillo said.

Daniel "The Lion," who the fund was named after, was Daniel and Jacquenette Jaramillo's son who was born Aug. 31, 2012. Baby Daniel passed away 14 months after he was born due to lung problems caused by premature birth. Instead of succumbing to their grief, his parents sought to make a difference.

The Jaramillos started the Daniel "The Lion" fund to support other families with critically and terminally ill children. The fund offers support and even a cast of mascot characters that appear at birthday parties and other celebrations.

The fund is most well known for Daniel "The Lion" Day, a celebration of young Daniel's life held every August in Broomfield. The free event is full of cotton candy, a petting zoo and all sorts of fun activities for the whole community.

"This money is going to make a huge difference ...it's going to change our whole year," Jacquenette Jaramillo said.