Prominent Denver businessman Doug Morton,publisher of Morton Publishing Company, and the Denver Broncos have teamed up for a total investment of $100,000 in the Darrent Williams Memorial Grant - The first year grant to go to Open Door Youth Gang over five years.

The Denver Broncos unveiled the Darrent Williams Memorial Grant, made possible by Broncos Charities, presented annually in January in the amount of $50,000 to a deserving agency in the Denver community that provides positive alternatives to youth—youth being one of three core initiatives for the organization in the community.

This first year, the grant will be given to Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives under the direction of Reverend Leon Kelly. This grant will be spread over five years and has the unique status of being matched this year at an equal level by prominent Denver businessman Doug Morton, publisher of Morton Publishing Company, for a total investment of $100,000 in Open Door over five years.

“Our organization has partnered with Open Door in many ways over the span of the past decade from alliance with the Annual Billy Thompson Kiwanis Golf Tournament in the mid-late 90’s to the integration of Reverend Kelly’s gang prevention messages through Lynch’s Leaders at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver,” Broncos President and CEO Pat Bowlen said. “It is through this association that we have come to believe in the commitment and the devotion of Reverend Leon Kelly to prevent gang violence through the work of Open Door, and it is a wonderful first step in formally memorializing Darrent.” “I have known of Reverend Kelly’s work from previous experiences through the Optimist Club in Denver and like the Broncos, share in the belief of his commitment and devotion to preventing gang violence in our community,” added Doug Morton.

Youth continues to be a pillar initiative of the Denver Broncos in the community. Along side long-standing commitment to and investment in youth service agencies like Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver and Denver Public Schools Foundation, it is the Broncos’ hope that this Annual Darrent Williams’ Memorial Grant will serve to improve the lives of youth in our community by providing them with positive alternatives in their development.

Douglas N. Morton I was born at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, VA October 9, 1939. I grew up in Pelham, NY and graduated with a BA in History in 1962 from The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. General Foods hired me in 1963 and sent me to Denver. I worked with two college textbook companies prior to starting Morton Publishing Company in 1977. Morton Publishing Company is a college textbook publisher that has specialized in Emergency Care texts, followed by Health and Physical Education textbooks and now specializes in Biology textbooks. My wife Marilyn Brown and I have been active with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and with The College of William and Mary where I have served on the Endowment Association and the Alumni Board. My wife is now serving her third term on the Library Board and will be honored in May as an Honorary Alumnus of The College of William and Mary.