Best Colorado Deals: Local Businesses Aid Tremendous Causes

Buy a quilt and help stop child abuse
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and it’s time for the spring quilt sale at Tennyson Center for Children. Every cent spent on the handmade crib, twin, double, queen and king-size quilts at the sale helps support Tennyson’s work to serve hundreds of abused and neglected children. The sale runs 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 17 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 18 at the Tennyson Center, 2950 Tennyson St., 720-855-3317.

Buy a noodle bowl and help plant a garden
Colorado-based national chain Noodles & Co. is working with Slow Food Denver to raise funds for its Seed to Table school garden program. A percentage of sales from all Denver-area Noodles & Co restaurants on Sunday, April 18 will help establish new school gardens and expand existing school gardens.

Breast Cancer Pirates wield cutlasses
Breast cancer survivors should mark their calendars for Breast Cancer Pirate Kickoff Spa Night, 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, at Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie, 9615-D E. County Line Road, 303-346-8450. Pampered Passions owner Alicia Varga has put together a program that will include professional wig fittings, nipple tattoos, bra fittings, lymphedema massages, makeup and hair styling. The evening is Varga's way of introducing the Breast Cancer Pirates peer-to-peer breast cancer support group. For more information and to RSVP, call Alicia at 720-244-1878 or e-mail Alicia.

Show your library how much you care
Libraries are taking it from two sides during the recession. Tight budgets are limiting services and hours as the demand for free library services escalates daily. National Library Week runs through Saturday, April 17, and The Printed Page Bookshop, 1416 S. Broadway, 303-777-7653, is using the occasion to honor and support libraries and their book-reading patrons. Just show a library card and put some money into the jar for the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, to receive a free book. The Printed Page's 15 specialty dealers have contributed a number of quality books of all kinds to the cause, including fiction, non-fiction and children's books.

Keep Julie's record clean
Julie Welch, founder of Ultra Legs hosiery and lingerie shop, 3444 S. Broadway, 303-761-3705, has run afoul of the Muscular Dystrophy Association cops. If she doesn't come up with her $1,500 "bail" by Thursday, April 22, she's going to be spending some time in the Englewood poky.

Honor child artists, get a discount at Kazoo
Through Friday, April 30, everything at www.kazootoys.com is discounted by 20 percent, and the discount also applies to the thousands of great toys you'll find at the Web site's home base -- Kazoo & Co. Toy Store, 2930 E. Second Ave., 303-322-0973. Just make your choices from the in-stock merchandise on line and pick them up at the store. From 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 18 would be an excellent time to complete your shopping mission. That's when Kazoo's 23rd Annual Clothesline Art Show kicks off with a cookies and punch party, and Denver's own internationally renowned toy store will proudly unveil some 600 pieces of artwork by children from metro-area schools. Be there or miss all the excitement! And remember. Parking is free in Cherry Creek North on Sunday.

Enstrom kicks off Feature of the Month
As Mother's Day approaches, Grand Junction based Enstrom Candies is starting a Feature of the Month deal. Through April 30, the price of Enstrom Candies' 20-piece Signature Classic Chocolate Assortment, usually $24.25, is reduced by 25 percent to $18.19. The deal is good at both metro-area stores, 201 University Blvd., 303-322-1005, Denver, and 6770 W. 52nd Ave., Arvada, 303-215-9905, and online at www.enstrom.com.

Stylicious Kids going bye-bye
Stylicious Kids, 3201 E. Second Ave., 303-333-3344, is in the first phase of its closing sale, and all toys, books, accessories and clothing is 30 percent off. That means a Big Brother short-sleeve T-shirt, originally $33.00, is $24, and a Juicy Couture Terry Tank Dress, originally $68, is $47.60. Owner Julie Roitman says her goods have been moving quickly, so you might want to hurry in for the best selection. And don't worry about the vagaries of Cherry Creek North's parking kiosks. There's free parking behind the store.

Spa Week deals at Salon Tobie Urban Spa
Salon Tobie Urban Spa, 200 Quebec St., 303-366- 4247, is celebrating National Spa Week through Saturday, April 17 by offering $50 deals on combo facial and neck and shoulder massages, haircut and color service, or manicure, pedicure and exfoliating scrub massages.

Got kids?
Kids' Safety Day, 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 17 at Kid to Kid Consignment, 15035 E. Mississippi Ave, (at Chambers), 303-752-2757. Fingerprinting, car seat inspections, fire trucks, ambulances, police cruisers, prizes and specials.
Just Between Friends Broomfield/Westminster Children's Consignment Sale, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17, $1 admission; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 18 (half-price sale), Adams County Fairgrounds, Al Lesser Bldg., 9755 Henderson Road, Brighton.
Your Little Ones Locker Children's Consignment Sale, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 16; 9:30 to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 17; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 18 (half-price sale), American Legion Firestone, 670 First St., Firestone.

Janet Simons, author of the Colorado Smart Shopper, blogger of Best Colorado Deals, and veteran Rocky Mountain News shopping columnist discusses her New Year's resolutions to integrate more local shopping into her life. Excerpt taken from the BestColoradoDeals.com newsletter, a publication dedicated to independent shoppers and retailers.