Meet Jessica Bachus of Kenzi’s Causes in Central Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Bachus.

Jessica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In January of 2007, my life was sunny, bright and overflowing with love. A proud mother, I was expecting my 2nd child, a baby girl, whom we named Kenzi. Kenzi was a few short months from her debut in the world. Our beautiful family was elated.

Then, tragedy struck. I lost Kenzi on January 23rd.

What remained of 2007 was understandably difficult for me and my family. Losing a child meant literally losing a piece of ourselves, and so many dreams and plans that would go unfulfilled. As the holidays came back around again, I was reminded of the daughter I lost and the gifts that we would never get to give her. Most of all, I wished I could have given Kenzi her first Christmas doll.

To honor my daughter Kenzi, I started Kenzi’s Causes (then known as Dolls for Daughters), a nonprofit organization that provides dolls as holiday gifts for girls in need. If Jessica could never give Kenzi the dolls she wanted to, then she would give those dolls to all the little girls in Colorado whose circumstances couldn’t provide them.

That first year, 2007, Kenzi’s Causes collected 300 new dolls that were distributed to little girls in need. I didn’t stop there, though, because Kenzi’s memory deserved boundless gratitude, loving and giving. I expanded Kenzi’s Causes to collect toys for all kids in need in Colorado, and in 2010, with the help of friends, family, and volunteers, Kenzi’s Causes collected 4,000 toys for boys and girls. Since 2007, we have impacted more than 61,000 children in Colorado and provided more than 441,131 items.

Also, in 2010, I started “Kenzi’s Kidz” to help relieve the financial burdens for low-income families taking steps to create stable environments for their children. For a year, Kenzi’s Kidz provides children from qualifying families with essential items that make scholastic success possible. It includes school supplies, clothing, extracurricular activities, and birthday and holiday gifts. Since the program began, 32 families and 111 children have been impacted. This program has helped provide cars to single moms, Halloween costumes, birthday parties, and zoo passes to the families.

After returning to school to earn my Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership, I created the Packz4Kidz program to provide backpacks full of new school supplies to children in ECE-12th grade. Since this program began, 3,611 children have received a total of 123,317 items from backpacks full of school supplies to water bottles and lunch boxes. All items are new and help children begin the school year feeling confident.
Our work provides equability for low-income children in Colorado. We are a small staff of two with a village of more than 500 volunteers who believe in the work we do across Colorado. In the last ten years, we have expanded our Toy Shop program into five other communities in Colorado – Fort Collins, Longmont, Rifle, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. This year, we are expanding our Packz4Kidz program into Rilfe and hope to expand into all our Toy Shop program cities.

Has it been a smooth road?
No road to success is smooth.

Funding has been an issue, wanting to grow the programs into the communities we are needed in, takes funding and we need more funding to make this happen.

Not having enough staff to grow. In 2018, I added another staff person so we could grow our programs, connect with more donors and have a larger impact.

In 2018, we changed our name from Dolls for Daughters & Kenzi’s Kidz to Kenzi’s Causes. People were so hung up on our name that they couldn’t look past it. We are so much more than a play on words and giving dolls to girls.

What else should our readers know?
We are a Denver based nonprofit that provides equality for low-income children across the state. We are one of the only, if not the only, nonprofit in the state that has toy shops in the state that provide new toys and more to low-income children from birth to 18. Many nonprofits stop serving children at 12 or 13 and many offer new and used toys. We are also the only one that operates in six communities and growing.

Our backpack program is also unique in how we serve families and that we are expanding into Rifle this year with growth expected in 2020.

Another thing that sets us apart is that we are a staff of two and we impact so many children across the state. We also have more than 500 volunteers annually starting at age seven.

I am most proud that we are changing the lives of children across the state and keeping their dignity intact and creating equality for them.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love all the culture and things to do from plays to museums to art to sports teams. I love that the mountains are so close and that there are so many to choose from to hike or ski or just visit. I also love the diversity of the population in Denver. You have people from all over the world represented in Denver. And I also love the food, we have a ton of places to experience amazing food.

Traffic is what I like least about our city. I am glad I do not have to spend much time on the highways but they always seem to be congested.

Contact Info:

• Address: 730 Colorado Blvd Suite 200, Denver, CO 80206
• Website: www.kenziscauses.org
• Phone: 303-910-5078
• Email: jessica@kenziscauses.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kenzisCauses/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenziscauses/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kenzisCauses
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKj0RBl7ilCp0CIxPn3HEpg

Image Credit:
KB Digital Designs

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.