Blanketing downtown Denver

One freezing evening two years ago, as Daniel Felipe-Morales was walking down Speer Avenue, homeward bound, he saw a man sitting off to the side of the street.

The temperature had reached a record low, and the man was sitting on the ground, shaking. All Felipe-Morales could think was, "What was he doing here?"

He walked down to man, and shook him gently. No response. "Hey," he said, "what are you doing here?" Nothing. Then, the man looked up, slowly, and Feliple-Morales guided him to his feet. 

"Come on," he sighed, "let me buy you some coffee." Off to Starbucks they went.

Once in the café, he got the man a cup of joe and two sandwiches and sat down with him.

"Why were you out there? Can't you go to a shelter?" he asked.

It was the man's pride. It kept him from walking out of the frozen night and into one of the shelters. It was as simple as that. He was recently put out on the streets and didn't want to admit that he needed help, that he was actually homeless. Not yet.

So Felipe-Morales talked with him. "They'll give you food and a place to sleep. Look, everyone needs help some days."

He looked up over his steaming cup, eyes wide, and nodded.

They arrived at the Denver Rescue Mission, only to see it packed to the brim. Even the chapel built into the location was filled with people, trying to find a place to lay their heads.
"It was just packed, packed with people," Felipe-Morales said.

After ensuring the man was given a place to sleep and was taken care of, he found his way to one of the volunteers and asked what it was they needed the most.

There wasn't a second of hesitation. "Blankets," the volunteer sputtered. "We always need blankets."

Aside from heading up his second-annual blanket drive this winter for the displaced citizens of Denver, UC Denver's Felipe-Morales volunteers at his father's business and works at the University as an information technician—and that's not all! Felipe-Morales is a friendly and approachable IT (unlike many).

His mother and father are from Mexico City and Lima, respectively. Felipe-Morales said that coming from two different cultures helps him contribute to a multitude of different social situations: "I'm pretty much adaptable to my environment."

The most impressive quality Felipe-Morales possesses is his charitable disposition.
After helping a displaced citizen to the Denver Rescue Mission two years ago, Felipe-Morales was met with the disheartening reality that the mission was grossly under-supported.

It was in need of blankets, coats, mittens—anything to keep people warm in the winter.
Felipe-Morales took it upon himself to organize a drive. "I talked to co-workers and friends and family members and just asked if they had anything they could give, blankets especially."

The response was beyond anything he anticipated.

"I ended up bringing over 100 blankets to the Rescue Mission," Felipe-Morales said. "The volunteers there were so grateful for the help."

 

It didn't end there. The blankets kept coming in, even after several loads. So he decided to make the most of it.

Every year since then, Felipe-Morales has led a donation drive to help shelters around the Denver area. It started just with blankets, and has expanded from there.

This winter, in its second year, the blanket drive did better than ever.

"Right now it's huge," Felipe-Morales said. "It's awesome to have such positive feedback."

So does Felipe-Morales have any faults?

"One time I hid a coworker's mouse in a bowl of Jell-o," he said. "It was his mouse. Not the state's mouse."

Another time Felipe-Morales put a "blue screen of death" screen saver on a coworker's computer and took away his keyboard and mouse.

"He thought he got a virus," he explained. "I was like, ‘No. You got punked.'"

Of course, pranking his coworkers probably makes him an enjoyable guy to work with, therefore influencing his work environment to be more fun.

"Danny is just one of those individuals who on a professional level has made it that much easier to do my job—to do any job. He is just a great personality," said Daniel Parks, associate registrar for systems administration and Felipe-Morales' supervisor.

Felipe-Morales's own office has been invaded by his personal donation service. Blankets and bags of clothes line the walls, spilling over onto the floor and desks.

"I just wish I could find that one man," he said. "I want him to know the effect he's had on so many people. I wish I could show him that."

And Felipe-Morales himself should know how much one person can change. From one story, one experience, hundreds of people have been helped.

If you would like to be notified of the next holiday drive, or if you have blankets and other warm-weather gear to donate, email Felipe-Morales at Daniel.FelipeMorales@ucdenver.edu. He needs all the help he can get to make other people safer during the cold winters in Colorado.