Volunteering—A Family Affair: Meet the Cookson Clan

CRI has been blessed with hundreds of wonderful volunteers during our 49 years of service to the students, staff and families of Denver Public Schools. But never have we had such a powerful team as the Cookson Clan.   

It all began with Michael, who volunteered in 2013 as a mentor for a 5th grade student in the field of science. Michael then entered medical school and amazingly has found time to mentor five more students who are interested in medical careers, including a set of triplets from Thomas Jefferson High School. Michael joined CRI’s Board of Directors in 2018 and currently serves as Vice-President.

Next came Kaitlyn, who at the time was Michael’s girlfriend (fiancé) and is now his wife.  Kaitlyn is a Physician Assistant and has served as a mentor for students interested in health sciences. One of her mentees demonstrated suturing during her final presentation using a banana as the patient. 

Kaitlyn’s brother Cody Cowan works in the field of construction management and when he heard we had a student interested in that career area, guess who stepped up. Their first outing (pre-Covid, of course) was to one of Cody’s projects, Boulevard One at Lowry. 

Speaking of brothers, Michael’s brother Ricky is an IT guy who has volunteered his services to help CRI with graphic design and implementation of our 2020 Colorado Gives campaign. 

Keeping it in the family, Ricky’s wife Laura Cookson, who is the head chef for Dream Dinners, is a brand new mentor working virtually with a culinary science student. It will be fun to see what they cook up.    

At our 2019 Cultivate CRI fundraiser, the Cookson Clan, including Michael’s parents, were definitely the life of the party. Their enthusiasm and energy was infectious, as was their competitive bidding on the silent auction items. It’s easy to imagine the whole family hanging out this fall at the Breckenridge condo they purchased at the auction.  They are, no doubt, sharing stories about the terrific kids with whom they’ve worked.

CRI cannot say THANK YOU enough to the Cookson Clan for all they’ve have done. A true treasure!!!