January 29, 2026
Hundreds of Colorado physicians and staff members give back
More than 250 physicians, staff, and their family members served more than 20 organizations across Colorado for Kaiser Permanente’s MLK Days of Service.
Kaiser Permanente volunteers served throughout their communities preparing meals, sorting donations, and more during the 2026 MLK Days of Service.
Every Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it’s easy to find Tracy Copeland, a Medicaid and charitable programs project manager for Kaiser Permanente. For roughly the last decade, Copeland has spent the holiday in Denver serving people who are homeless at the Volunteers of America Colorado MLK Day Celebration and Dinner, which is sponsored by Kaiser Permanente.
“We help provide the food. We provide staff to help serve the food, and clean up afterwards,” said Copeland. “It’s a really special event.”
With food, community, and a live jazz band, the dinner is always a popular volunteering opportunity. More than a dozen Kaiser Permanente employees and their family members joined Copeland in 2026.
“Usually by the end, everybody gets up and tries to dance a little bit and have a good time,” said Copeland.
The volunteers can have a big impact. The event is a critical opportunity to distribute hygiene kits and warm-weather gear.
The dinner also connects people who are homeless to year-round services, said Faustine Curry, vice president of advancement and marketing at Volunteers of America Colorado.
“A meal like this gives us the opportunity to make sure that people are OK, to show some love to them,” Curry said. “There’s nothing better than the heart of a volunteer, and Kaiser Permanente’s volunteers are the very best.”
Volunteering is part of our DNA
Amy Whited (second from right) with (left to right) Kayla Harris and Shannon White, both senior consultants, Customer Experience; and Cortney Eisses, VP, Care and Utilization Management; at Project Angel Heart.
In the week around MLK Day, more than 250 Kaiser Permanente physicians, staff, and their family members volunteered with more than 20 community organizations along the Front Range in Colorado for Kaiser Permanente’s 2026 MLK Days of Service.
“Volunteering is part of our DNA at Kaiser Permanente,” said Amy Whited, vice president of marketing, communications, and community health at Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. “Volunteerism is a way that our employees and our physicians can give back to their communities and bring Kaiser Permanente’s mission to life.”
Sporting matching blue shirts featuring a Martin Luther King Jr. quote on the back, Kaiser Permanente volunteers prepared and delivered medically tailored meals for Project Angel Heart. They packed travel kits for Special Olympics Colorado athletes. And the volunteers helped organizations like A Precious Child, Clothes to Kids of Denver, Project C.U.R.E., and Food Bank of the Rockies sort donations.
“I’m so proud of our physicians and staff at Kaiser Permanente — volunteerism really matters to them,” said Whited. “I’m really proud that we are out in the community doing this great work.”
Kaiser Permanente employees at the Smoky Hill Medical Offices making bean soup kits for Project Our Town.
In several of Kaiser Permanente’s 29 Colorado medical offices, physicians and staff prepared mental health kits for Colorado youth and bean soup kits.
Kaiser Permanente employees also have opportunities to volunteer throughout the year. Copeland said she hopes people take advantage of that.
“For me, I know once you do it, you want to keep doing it,” said Copeland. “Because it does make you feel good to help people.”
