about us

 Goals And Accomplishments
  Board of Directors
  CO Committee Members (Click here for Profiles)

    

Foundation Accomplishments to Date:
As ambassadors of the Foundation, Ken and Bambi Dixey began a crusade to raise the awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning on houseboats.   The foundation efforts have made an immediate and direct impact on this nationwide problem. Some of the more notable efforts have included testifying at a Congressional Panel Hearing in Washington D.C. , which eventually forced the Coast Guard to recall existing houseboats. This move led to a lawsuit to reinforce the recall.

Double Angel has been featured nationally on 48 Hours News Show.  These efforts have encouraged many positive changes addressing the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning by involving many organizations including the Coast Guard, the National Park Service, and the houseboat manufacturers. Several boat manufacturers have completely retrofitted new boats to make them much safer for consumers. Our purpose is to save lives. We have sent educational tapes to the head coroners in each state in the U.S. encouraging them to test all drowning victims near boats for carbon monoxide poisoning. We hope that by properly identifying these incidents as drowning due to CO poisoning as opposed to mere drowning, this may open some eyes nationwide and further help us force safety changes and provide further awareness.

The Double Angel Ballpark opened in 2006 with the first 2 of 4 planned baseball fields.  The state-of-the-art facility has synthetic turf and lighted 90 ft base fields for 13+ ages to play baseball.  More than 1200 activities took place in 2010 with ball being played all 12 months of the year in both 2009 and 2010.  More than 25,000 people entered the gates for practices, games and tournaments.  A wedding will be a new highlight of 2011.  The Ballpark is a unique facility in that it was built and is operated by a non-profit group with no taxpayer support.  More than 33 user groups play at Double Angel with many teams coming from all over the western states for tournaments.

While users pay rental fees, it is not enough to operate the facility and continual fundraisers are conducted by the Foundation and our volunteers and supporters.  Double Angel Foundation is very proud and thankful to everyone who has contributed in any way.

DOUBLE ANGEL BALLPARK OPENED IN JUNE OF 2006

The Grand Opening Day on June 3rd of the Double Angel Ballpark was a huge success, thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers, participants and baseball teams who gave their time and resources on this special day.  The spirit of Dillon and Logan Dixey, and their love of “America’s Game,” will live on in this state-of-the-art facility to be enjoyed by baseball fans for generations to come.  About 1000 people filled the stands and the grounds for the opening day celebration.

Opening Day Photos #1

Opening Day Photos #2

Opening Day Photos #3

Other proud achievements include:

  • Scholarships given to underprivileged children to allow them to participate in the game they love
  • 40 acres of land secured through a long-term lease
  • Developed an extensive volunteer network
  • Donor recognition brick campaign has been fully developed and implemented   

  

 

Future Goals:

  • Continue to work to construct the final 2 planned fields
  • Save lives by continuing to provide and improve our carbon monoxide safety campaign both on a local and national level
  • Provide baseball scholarships each year to youth ages 5 to 18
  • Develop and sponsor sports related special needs programs
  • Host local and national baseball tournaments
  • Make fields open to all youth across Colorado and beyond
  • Provide a venue for kids to attain required community service hours

Impact on the Community:

For many generations the game of baseball has provided youth from all walks of life the opportunity to share team spirit and experience a full sense of accomplishment. The Double Angel Foundation’s mission is to enhance self-esteem, while fostering good sportsmanship, leadership and citizenship through team play.

The dangers of carbon monoxide from houseboats have been vastly underestimated until brought to the forefront by this tragedy. The efforts of the Foundation’s ambassadors have created awareness that will save many lives in the future. This effort will continue.

 

Key components :

•  A non-political venue that will allow the Foundation to control scheduling of the fields, thereby ensuring that youth have priority for all games and practices as their needs dictate. This translates into more effective and flexible responses to special needs than a municipality can offer.

•  Need for additional ballfields is evident when many children in the community do not receive priority for scheduling. There are so many adult leagues filling the schedule that they often send the youth leagues to another county to fulfill their league commitments.

•  Ability to interact with other foundations, by providing opportunities for groups such as Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Childrens Hospital . Time and space will be reserved in the ballfield schedule to accommodate these special needs programs.

•  Generate funds for scholarships. The Foundation will sponsor up to 10 local little league ballplayers at $500 per child equaling $5,000 per year. Remaining funds can be used for additional programs

•  Provide an environment for community service . An agreement with local high schools to provide services for the complex in order to meet community service requirements.

•  An avenue for ongoing carbon monoxide awareness. Educational exhibits and plaques will be placed at the complex to make the public aware of the dangers.

•  Tangible way for community to respond to tragedy. The entire project is a way for people to respond in a positive manner to the loss of the two boys who were members of the community. A sense of pride will be felt by every person and company involved, knowing they made this project a reality.

•  Increased community spirit . Families can spend quality time together in the park, picnic, and garden areas.