Category: Donors’ Stories of Giving

After a career as a wealth management advisor, Warren Schneider doesn’t leave financial matters to chance. That goes for the financial decisions to be implemented after his and his wife Linda’s lifetime. Warren and Linda have everything well planned to meet their objectives in life even after their deaths. Part of that plan is making […]

May is national Mental Health Month, so we’re sharing a few of our donor and grant stories related to improving mental health in the community.  Bob and Char Sigman gave their charitable fund a name – the Mental Health Fund – that also is their wish for the community. It is a wish they tragically […]

Most philanthropists don’t make news headlines with their generosity, but they do make a huge difference in their communities. Jim and Anne Donnellan established their Donnellan Family Fund at the Community Foundation 15 years ago when he was an elementary school principal and she was teaching high school science. The money came from an inheritance […]

Graduation celebrations are happening across the Fox Valley as students and parents mark a transition to adulthood. For Scott and Lisa Sheppard of Sherwood, it is a reminder that their son Grant, who would have been a part of Kaukauna High School’s graduating Class of 2023, is not part of the festivities. Grant passed away […]

When Augie Spitzberger takes his dog Fritzi for a walk around his Shawano neighborhood, he often thinks about people who don’t have shelter. “With this winter being so bitter cold, I couldn’t help thinking about those who need warm jackets and a place to stay,” says Spitzberger. Thanks to his relationship with the Shawano Area […]

St. Norbert College Parish in Green Bay: A beautiful 16-foot tall portico designed by Morning Glory Glass Studio of Lodi, Wis., was commissioned to honor the late Rita E. Nelson, thanks to a grant from the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund within the Community Foundation.                               […]

Jon and Becky Stellmacher say making their favorite charitable causes part of their estate planning through the Community Foundation has always been their intention, so that’s what they did as they updated the necessary documents over the past year. Describing the provisions they have made for their charitable family endowment fund – the Becky and […]

Fox Cities residents have moved from the garden harvest to a harvest of generosity as The Post-Crescent and its sister newspapers statewide launched their annual Stock the Shelves donation drive Sunday. The Community Foundation assist the campaign by taking online donations at www.cffoxvalley.org/stocktheshelves and distributing grants to the participating food pantries from the Post-Crescent Community […]

Gifts of publicly traded stock and other securities are increasing in popularity as donors are finding a stock transfer is a simple and tax-savvy way to support the community while meeting their own financial goals. In 2021, the Community Foundation’s donors gave over $18 million in stock contributions, with 35% of transfers made in December […]

For a typical kid, having a computer tablet may mean the difference between spending more screen time looking at social media or not. For recipients of iPads and related technology paid for by the Corey and Kristy Stumpf Tech for Kids Fund, it may greatly improve their ability to learn. It all started when Corey […]

As an advocate for the arts in Shawano County and the Shawano Area Community Foundation, Dr. Susan Hanson was an unstoppable force. Even her passing in 2015 didn’t stop her from contributing to her causes. After becoming the first woman graduate of Wittenberg High School to attend medical school, she served as director of the […]

A Community Foundation grant helped the Kurt Stein School of Music in Neenah get started in a partnership with YouthGo to give disadvantaged youth the chance to learn a musical instrument, but more instruments were needed. That was until a nonprofit run by a 19-year-old came to play. The nonprofit music school offered to give lessons in guitar, […]