Organization Receives $45,000 Grant to Build Monument

The Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority has given a $45,000 grant to non-profit organization Mujeres de Colores to build The Hand That Feeds sculpture and monument at Sugar Beet Park in north Fort Collins.

The sculpture is a community project by Mujeres de Colores that aims to recognize and commemorate the many Hispanic and Mexican families that came to the region to work the sugar beet fields, later settling in and becoming a part of Fort Collins.

The sculpture will be created by artist Frank Garza, a Loveland resident. The Short-Hoe in the sculpture represents the hard work required by field workers, while the Hand represents the Mexican and Hispanic families who carried out that work.

The sculpture plaza will additionally feature a large interpretive storyboard to teach visitors about Northern Colorado’s sugar beet industry and its impact on the Fort Collins community. A fundraising campaign is currently underway, which ends when the project is completed as the total cost of the monument and plaza is $300,000.

Kick starter donors, and the DDA include High Country Beverage, Might Arrow Foundation, New Belgium Brewery, and The Latino Foundation. The goal is to have the monument completed by September of this year as part of the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

“Thank you to the DDA for supporting this project,” said Betty Aragon-Mitotes, founder of Mujeres de Colores and the visionary behind the sculpture. “Your funding helps kickstart The Hand That Feeds fundraising campaign and puts us one step closer to making this beautiful legacy a reality,” Betty said.

For more information regarding The Hand That Feeds Monument, visit: www.mujeresdecolores.org/art-sculpture or call 970-412-4536