Blue Beauty for Children’s Miracle Network

At Valley Ace Hardware, we believe that a community is strongest when it pulls together for a cause—and this month, that cause was kids. To bring awareness to the incredible work being done at our local Children’s Hospital in Aurora, we joined the Children’s Miracle Network Bucket Challenge in the biggest way we could think of: by building a horse. A giant, bright blue horse—made entirely out of ACE buckets.

What started as a creative idea turned into a full-scale installation that completely took over our BBQ section. Built from 290 Ace CMN blue buckets and over 1,000 pieces of hardware, the towering horse quickly became the centerpiece of our store—and the community’s attention.

The project was led by our very own Sarah Handy, owner of Valley Ace Hardware, and Andi Tunison, our Promotions Coordinator. With passion, teamwork, and a lot of ingenuity, they brought this unique creation to life, complete with a rope mane and a whole lot of heart.  In fact, the horse, which may resemble the iconic horse “Mustang” at DIA, is affectionately called Braveheart.  “The kids at CMN are going though a tremendous amount and for them, they don’t always understand what is happening or why it is happening.” Andi stated.  “They are brave and couragous and we felt like that name was fitting for our CMN horse.” 

The entire project took 13 days and countless hours of brainstorming and planning.  At over 20 feet high and 300lbs, the weight of the horse was more than expected and lifts had to be brought in to attach safety cables to the ceiling to hold it up.  “There’s only so much you can plan for before some creative solutions need to be added from the unexpected turns the art project took.”  Sarah mentioned.   A fence was built out of blocks and lumber to keep adventurers from climbing and parts from the buckets were used to create a water trough and a pile of bucket handle hay. ” 

But that’s not all—out of over 5,000 stores, we’re thrilled to announce that Valley Ace Hardware won 1st place in the CMN Bucket Challenge! As a result, our store received a $7,500 donation for the Children’s  Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs. This incredible gift will go directly toward supporting life-saving care and programs for local children and families.

“We’re so proud of our team and grateful to everyone who supported this effort. Our blue bucket horse isn’t just a fun installation—it’s a symbol of what we can accomplish when we rally together for a cause that matters.” Sarah said.

We invite everyone to stop by, take a photo with our blue bucket beauty, and consider donating to support this incredible cause, because at Valley Ace Hardware, caring for kids isn’t just a campaign—it’s a commitment.  The horse will remain on display until Thanksgiving and will be disassembled and kept so we can reuse the buckets for the next project. 

100% of the donations that are collected at Valley Ace Hardware go to Children’s Hospital Colorado, which is a network of over 15 hospitals in Colorado that support local kids from Custer County.  Ace is committed to raising funds and awareness to Children’s Hospitals all over the United States.

See Valley Ace Hardware featured on KKTV11!

Click HERE to view.