When John Akinboyewa studied at the Colorado School of Mines for his engineering degrees, he recalled digging in the couch for change to afford a 99-cent meal at Taco Bell or McDonald’s — coming to $1.08 with tax.

“I remember that number so vividly,” he said. His very next thought: “There is pizza or a sandwich or cookies somewhere on this campus that is fastly approaching the trash can.”

That college experience sparked the idea for a new app called Hungree. And in the last year, Akinboyewa, a 39-year-old Denver resident, and his three team members have brought his vision to life.

The free app follows a basic premise: A user in a small geographic area who wants to get rid of a food item can post it for another user to request and then pick up. Restaurants, food banks and other sizable providers can connect with individuals, and neighbors can link with neighbors.

Users can share either with the public or solely within their own “villages,” which are limited to specific groups like religious organizations or homeowners associations.

The app can be used to arrange very small-scale and extremely large-scale food distribution, Akinboyewa added. If an office staffer has 25 leftover sandwiches after an event, then that user can post the food items in their village and alert others to the surplus.

But to work effectively, the app needs a balance of both providers and users.

He’s developed the app to protect user privacy, keep track of food donations, avoid lines at food pickups and more. In its beta phase, the app granted access to 500 invite-only users across six cities in four countries — the U.S., Nigeria, Colombia and the United Kingdom — before expanding to nearly 1,000 users, Akinboyewa said.

Soon, his team plans to permit tens of thousands of users through several university, community and business partnerships, he said.

The app is available now on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store, using an invite code: HUNGREE500.

For Akinboyewa, who was born in Nigeria and resided in London before immigrating to the U.S., the Hungree app is a way to fight hunger and curb food waste. In the places he’s lived, he’s seen the struggle of food insecurity.

Now, he’s watching his strategy work in real time. A local steakhouse manager listed leftover meals on the app — three servings of steak and vegetables — and another user picked them up to hand out to people experiencing homelessness, Akinboyewa said.

“I love solving problems,” said Akinboyewa, who has a background as a consultant in the oil and gas industry. “Sometimes, the simple solution is actually what works.”

To take his app to the next level, Akinboyewa hopes to garner institutional and organizational support. He’s discussed the idea with leaders at the University of Colorado Boulder who are in charge of off-campus housing, which could result in thousands of students accessing the app.

Akinboyewa wants to connect with local businesses and feature them on the app, too. He’s looking for financial backing that lets him roll it out on a larger scale.

Hungree’s nonprofit status was approved by the state on Monday. But the organization’s technology branch is for-profit, with plans to make money through investors and a business model that will eventually let users pay for enhanced features, Akinboyewa said.

“I’ll be sincere about something: Being Black in tech, you’re not connected to the right communities to help get the funding,” he said.

Still, he’s seeing progress globally. And in the next few weeks, a major update will bring multilingual support to the app, expanding beyond English to add Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian and Turkish.

Akinboyewa’s hope: “In five to seven years, we want half a billion people on there,” he said. “There are big dreams to this.”

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Originally Published: July 23, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.

The Rockies won as a visitor in their own ballpark on Monday at Fenway Park West.

In front of a pro-Boston gathering of 35,261 at Coors Field, Colorado outlasted the Red Sox 9-8 in 12 innings to claim the series opener. LoDo rising star Ezequiel Tovar roped the walk-off single to improve the Rockies to 6-4 in extras this year and send the red-clad crowd streaming toward the exits.

“There were a lot of Sox fans there, and at times, it felt like an away game,” Sam Hilliard said. “But we were resilient tonight… Guys coming out of the bullpen are doing a great job right now, making big pitches, and we had a pass-the-baton mentality.

“… We’re not going to lie down (in the second half). We feel like we can compete and beat anybody, and I think we’re been showing that a little bit lately by playing spoiler or whatever you want to call it.”

Prior to Tovar’s hit that lifted Colorado to its seventh walk-off win this year, the Rockies blew two leads and staged a comeback of their own to tie the game in the 10th on Hilliard’s two-run homer in a dramatic interleague affair.

“It was a great game, and a good win,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It was going to be a tough loss for whoever lost that one, but our guys endured.”

After a couple of quiet innings to open the game, Colorado jumped out to a significant lead in the third.

In that frame, rookie Aaron Schunk’s rollover grounder down the third base line hit the bag, resulting in an infield single and jump-starting a big inning. Charlie Blackmon followed with a two-run homer to right on a hanging slider by Tanner Houck.

Tovar then had a swinging bunt. And after Brenton Doyle’s RBI double and Michael Toglia’s RBI single added two more runs, the first-time All-Star Houck was down 4-0.

“We took advantage of some balls up in the zone,” Black said.

But the four-run lead, and Austin Gomber’s cruise control, couldn’t hold.

The Red Sox broke through with four runs of their own in the fifth, tying the game with a pair of two-out swings. Jamie Westbrook’s three-run homer was the backbreaker, then All-Star Game MVP Jarren Duran blasted a triple and Rob Refsnyder’s single through the left side tied the game.

Gomber finished with four earned on six hits through 5 2/3, with one walk and five strikeouts. The southpaw said his final stat line didn’t accurately reflect how comfortable he felt on the mound and his recent positive trajectory.

“I made one bad pitch and gave up a three-run homer, but that’s the best I’ve thrown the ball since 2021,” Gomber said. “I haven’t had that good of stuff in three-plus years. It sucks to make a mistake on the homer, but if I can take that (stuff) every five days, I’ll be fine. The past couple weeks is the livest my arm’s felt in a couple years.”

The Rockies re-took the lead in the seventh following a decidedly Red Sox rendition of Take Me Out To The Ballgame. Brendan Rodgers singled against Josh Winckowski, then Jacob Stallings’ two-out double down the right field line scored Rodgers to make it 5-4.

Boston didn’t waste time squaring the score back up, as Connor Wong led off the eighth with an arching homer to right off southpaw Jalen Beeks that just cleared the out-of-town scoreboard. That energized the pro-Boston crowd on hand, but the Red Sox failed to grab the lead with further traffic when Beeks induced an inning-ending double play.

The Red Sox appeared to have the final say with two runs off Victor Vodnik in the 10th, thanks to Dominic Smith’s leadoff RBI double to score the California runner and then Rafael Devers’ sacrifice fly a couple of batters later. But Hilliard came through with a two-run dinger in the bottom of the inning off right-hander Zack Kelly. Hilliard’s hit sailed 450 feet into the Boston bullpen to tie the game 7-7.

“I went up there looking for a changeup, which is the pitch I hit out,” Hilliard said. “My swing probably got a little too big at first. On 0-1, he pretty much threw the same pitch but a little bit lower, more into the loop of my swing. Before that, I was telling myself to shorten up and not do too much. I was able to put the barrel on it and it went, so it’s good to see an adjustment pay off like that mid at-bat.”

Justin Lawrence worked out of a jam in the 11th, getting a double-play ball and then inducing another groundout to end the inning. But the Rockies left runners on second and third in the bottom of the inning as right-hander Greg Weissert stymied them. At the conclusion of the frame, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Mark Wegner.

“Lawrence’s fastball was crispy tonight (topping out at 97.1 mph), and a little hotter than what we saw prior to the All-Star break,” Black said. “He also had a couple good breaking balls.”

Boston re-took the lead in the 12th via a two-out RBI single off Lawrence by Wilyer Abreu. In the bottom of the inning, Jake Cave scored Rodgers on a single that turned into a double on an error by Tyler O’Neil in left field. Then, an intentional walk to Stallings, a sacrifice bunt by Hilliard and an intentional walk to Schunk set up Tovar’s walk-off single off ex-Rockie Chase Anderson.

Tovar missed Sunday’s series finale against the Giants due to illness, and was still sick on Monday as he returned to the lineup to deliver his third career walk-off hit.

“That was a little Michael Jordan flu game for Tovar tonight to get the game-winning knock,” Hilliard said. “He had (three) knocks on the night and you could just tell he was grinding.”

Tuesday’s pitching matchup

Rockies LHP Ty Blach (3-5, 5.46 ERA) vs. Red Sox TBA

6:40 p.m. Tuesday, Coors Field

TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM

After German Marquez landed on the injured list on Monday with right elbow inflammation, Blach likely gets the nod in his 10th start of the season. Blach got hit around in his last start, when the Dodgers tagged him for five runs on 10 hits with three homers in a loss at Coors Field on June 20. He also hasn’t been very good in relief lately, with a 8.31 ERA in three June outings. Unfamiliarity will be on the southpaw’s side as he makes just his second career start against Boston, and only three current Red Sox have faced him.

Pitching probables

Wednesday: Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (6-7, 4.15) vs. Red Sox TBA, 1:10 p.m.

Thursday: Off

Friday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-3, 5.63) at Giants TBA, 8:15 p.m.

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Originally Published: July 22, 2024 at 10:17 p.m.

Press play for a time machine into Colorado’s last real chance to host the Olympics.

The Denver Chamber of Commerce produced a 14-minute promotional video for hosting the 1976 Winter Games. It opens with grainy aerial views of the Rocky Mountains, cowboys on horseback, a Native American ceremony, skiers busting through powder, a cheesy soundtrack and a booming voice:

The Denver Olympic story starts in a land of Olympian proportions. The American West.

The pitch worked. In 1970, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Denver the ‘76 Winter Games on promises made in their application. The video continues:

Already, nearly 80 percent of the facilities necessary to hold the ‘76 games are constructed and ready. … The proposed site for the men’s and women’s slalom, and giant slalom, at Loveland Basin is only 45 minutes from downtown Denver by superhighway. … Nordic events will be held in the Evergreen area. … Figure skating and ice hockey events can be held at the Denver Coliseum. … Speed skating will take place at a new rink near the Olympic village. … We hope we’ll see you in ‘76.

Of course, none of that happened.

Colorado voters in 1972 overwhelmingly approved Amendment 8, a grassroots effort prohibiting the state from levying taxes or allocating funds for the ’76 Winter Games. They went to Innsbruck, Austria, instead. It marked the first time in Olympic history that a selected host site boycotted.

“It’s really rare that a city would invest this kind of capital and then not ensure that its voters are lined up behind it,” said Samuel Bock, a public historian and exhibit developer for History Colorado. “But I think it’s important to understand the gulf in terms of the optimism of the people promoting the bid and the actual reality on the ground.”

Has anything changed in 50-plus years?

The Denver Gazette sought to understand why Colorado rejected the ‘76 Winter Games — and determine if the state is ready for another push to host — ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Matthew Payne, executive director of the Denver Sports Commission, is ready for that conversation.

“Visit Denver and the Denver Sports Commission would be thrilled to evaluate and, if appropriate, support a future Olympic bid if the state and city residents supported it,” Payne said in a statement to The Denver Gazette.

—

Call it a second gold rush. The 1960s were transformational in Colorado mountain towns.

Ski resorts opened in Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs and Vail, coinciding with massive population booms across the Front Range. It’s no surprise industry leaders and local politicians sought to share their mountains and grow business opportunities on the Olympic stage.

It began in 1963, according to the Denver Public Library, when Gov. John Love mentioned the possibility during a speech delivered in Colorado Springs. Momentum grew in 1967 when the U.S. Olympic Committee picked Denver as its official candidate for the ‘76 Winter Games. In 1968, the Denver Organizing Committee (DOC) traveled to the Olympics in France and Mexico City to help bolster the city’s candidacy.

Yet the DOC failed to predict an undercurrent of public skepticism back home.

Richard Lamm, a state representative in the early 1970s, was not convinced a Colorado Olympics were a good idea. He organized the Olympic opposition effort — Citizens for Colorado’s Future — for collecting signatures to include Amendment 8 on the ballot.

As it turned out, major roadblocks existed between Denver and the ‘76 Winter Games.

The city oversold its hosting ability and undersold the financial commitment.

• Having “nearly 80 percent” of all required venues constructed was overstated. Denver and its adjacent mountain communities lacked an Olympic ski jump, luge and bobsled tracks, a speedskating facility, media housing and a modernized downtown arena.

• The IOC required all venues be within 50 miles of the Athletes’ Village in Denver, eliminating Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs and Vail. Alternative locations at Mount Sniktau and Evergreen did not receive much snow. Proposed solutions? Helicopter travel for Alpine athletes or trucking in snow to lower-elevation events.

• The DOC initially proposed a price tag of $15 million to host the Winter Games. Their estimate later grew to $35 million. But the final number would likely be much higher. A fitting example: The 1976 Summer Games left the city of Montreal with more than $1 billion in debt, according to The Guardian. 

Lamm later served three terms as Colorado Governor (1975-87). He died in 2021 due to complications from a pulmonary embolism. He was 85.

“I was on the legislative audit committee back in the 1970s,” Lamm told Colorado Politics in 2019. “And that’s when I started evaluating the pros and cons of the Olympics. We fought it back in those days in 1972. The voters made a decision, and I was convinced it was the right one.” 

Lessons from the 1976 boycott remain as conversation shifts to the present day.

Colorado Springs is home to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center. Denver missed out as a host city for the 2026 World Cup. But it successfully held large-scale events like the 2008 Democratic National Convention and MLB, NHL, NBA all-star games.

But is the state ready to host a Winter Games?

—

Time for a reality check. The Olympics will not be held in Colorado, at the very earliest, until the 2040s.

The 2026 Winter Games are in Italy. It’s anticipated in 2030 the French Alps will host. Salt Lake City is the leading candidate for 2034.

Denver’s exclusion is not from a lack of effort.

In 2018, the city formed the Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games Exploratory Committee to “determine if hosting a future Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games could be done and should be done” for a potential 2030 bid.

Their conclusion: Yes. But with conditions.

The committee recommended the Olympics be privately financed, designed to prioritize existing or temporary venues instead of new construction, while being sensitive to traffic congestion and affordable housing. It should also be voted on by residents through a statewide initiative.

Their proposal, while innovative, ultimately didn’t sell. The United States Olympic Committee chose to nominate Salt Lake City over Denver for the Winter Games. Utah benefits from existing venues and facilities after the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake. Denver reimagined how the Olympics should operate.

It’s unclear when Colorado will re-enter the Olympics conversation. In 2019, Denver residents passed Initiative 302 to require a vote before the city spends public money on any future bid.

“The possibility of the Olympics being hosted in Colorado is a larger discussion that would require careful consideration from stakeholders across the state,” Colorado Springs mayor Yemi Mobolade told The Denver Gazette in a statement. “In the meantime, we will continue to champion the Olympic and Paralympic spirit and ideals as we showcase our city’s commitment to the movement and support for Team USA athletes.”

Colorado’s rejection of the ‘76 Winter Games shaped its trajectory for decades to come. The grainy Denver Chamber of Commerce promotional video is a glimpse into an unfulfilled vision of growth for the state. But at what real cost?

“The historian in me takes a look at the last 20 or 30 years and thinks: Who knows what would have happened if we had brought the Olympics here? We may not have really needed to,” Bock said. “It didn’t seem to be a bump in the road for anything. Because the state’s growth has been just meteoric.”