IPA Charities Continues To Support Columbine Memorial

IPA Charities contributed $25,000 toward the Columbine Memorial at the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, June 16, 2006.

President William Jefferson Clinton was the keynote speaker at the Columbine Memorial ceremony to break ground on a permanent memorial to the victims of the country's deadliest school shooting. President Clinton also spoke at the first fundraiser for the memorial, held in 2004, where IPA donated a total value worth $10,000. In addition, IPA underwrote the Las Vegas Photography company to photograph both events for the Columbine Memorial Committee. The total in-kind donation for both events is $40,000.

Shortly after the Columbine tragedy, a Memorial Committee formed to select and develop design concepts for a permanent memorial site to honor the victims of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High School. The committee consists of students, faculty, parents, emergency responders and community business leaders who have been working on the memorial plans. The planning process has included a series of public meetings, information gathered from more than 3,500 survey responses and a series of public meetings focusing on input from families of the deceased and injured victims.

The Columbine Memorial, once completed, will include an outer ‘message’ wall known as the Ring of Healing and an inner circle known as the Ring of Remembrance. The Ring of Remembrance will recall the tragic events of April 20, 1999 and pay respects, through engraved text, to the one teacher and 12 students who were slain that day. The Ring of Healing will surround the core area and contain additional quotes and text gathered from injured victims, Columbine students, teachers, staff and other community members.

The goals of the memorial are as follows:

• Create a respectful place where family members and the community/visitors can gain an understanding of the tragic event.
• Create a memorial with content and purpose fully derived from members of the Columbine community in keeping with the materials and natural forms of the Columbine area.
• Recognize and honor the deceased, injured, survivors and community members.
• Incorporate the "never forgotten" ribbon concept design. The Columbine ribbon has become a symbol of community unification and strength.

For more information and design plan images, visit the Columbine Memorial Web site at www.columbinememorial.org.