On April 20, 2018, Chilton High School graduate Grant Richman died as the result of suicide. His friend Ben Hertel wrote the following letter thanking the Community Foundation for helping him set up the Grant Richman Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor Grant’s memory. Ben has allowed us to share his letter.

By Ben Hertel, Employee Benefits Producer, Jackson Kahl Insurance Services

My name is Ben Hertel, and I have had an excellent experience with your scholarship team. I felt like I needed to reach out and let you know the impact that they are having on my community, Chilton.

Grant Richman presenting his award winning cancer research in Madison

Back in April one of my three high school best friends tragically passed away after he committed suicide.

Our best friend was universally loved, the president of the Pre-Med Club in Madison, an award-winning cancer researcher, and we felt it necessary to honor him by giving a scholarship to a Chilton student who represented Grant’s best qualities.

Since we are all college students or recent grads, none of us was in the financial position to put a scholarship together.

However, after speaking to Michelle Lippart Hardwick at the Community Foundation, we realized we had options to start. After speaking to her in November, we did some of our own research and ended up coming back to the Community Foundation.

(L to R): Ben Hertel, Grant Richman, Preston Pethan and Jerad Wagner at the Richman’s cottage.

From there we sat down and put together the future fund. We have our initial starting money, and we have a big group of friends and community members who are eager to help raise funds.

Without your team’s help, I’m not sure we would have been able to start the scholarship process so soon.

Many in the Chilton community have thanked and congratulated us on starting this, as Grant Richman was highly thought of, as is his family. It’s also given us a great platform to talk about and focus on mental health and the stigma that exists with it.

I look forward to a long relationship with the Community Foundation, and again, none of this would have been possible without your team.

Thank you!

Ben Hertel

To donate online, click here and select the Grant Richman Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Would you like to help award a scholarship? We have many scholarship committees that need volunteers to evaluate applications. Contact our Donor Services and Scholarship Manager Jill Muthig at (920) 702-7619 or [email protected].