Category: Donors’ Stories of Giving

Donors are the heart of the Community Foundation. We appreciate the many ways you support our mission every day! Here are how some donors make a difference in their communities: 1 Making positive changes The YMCA of the Fox Cities is extremely grateful to have convened more than 200 local educators recently for a powerful […]

 “We get more out of it than they do.” Marian and Joe Walsh have shared their love of music with generations of Kaukauna students in third, fourth and fifth grades.  Read more.    “My disability gives me potential to share with the world a story that is unique.” Hannah Fitton paid the love forward with her […]

2016 brought 67 new approaches to donors improving their community through the Community Foundation. That’s how many new charitable funds were created during the calendar year, bringing the total to 1,430. Each fund is an expression of the charitable passion of the individual, family, business or other group that has established it. Here are a […]

We celebrated 30 years of Helping Donors Share Nov. 19 at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region was created in 1986 with a $5,000 gift from Walter L. Rugland, the cash prize he received as the first Aid Association for Lutherans (now Thrivent Financial) Community Service Award […]

One generous individual’s matching gift along with community support can help carry the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley across the finish line to provide even more youth with great futures. A $250,000 matching gift is being provided by a longtime community supporter and philanthropist, Mary Beth Nienhaus. This match will help fund the remainder of the Great Futures Campaign, the organization’s multi-faceted push to meet the developmental […]

At age 99, Cody Splitt of Appleton doesn’t have to wonder what she will be remembered for. Even after she celebrates her last birthday, the retired attorney and active community volunteer will continue to support favorite community causes for centuries to come through gifts to her charitable funds at the Community Foundation. Cody and her […]

Recently the George & Gussie Balck and Arthur & Mary Leske Charitable Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region funded 100 CPR Anytime Kits for community organizations and members through the Healthy for Good sponsorship. The kits make it possible for anyone to learn basic lifesaving skills in 20 minutes. The American […]

Giving Tuesday is just the beginning. First appearing on the scene in 2012, this international day of giving to charity amid the shopping hype has become the kickoff to the year-end giving season for many nonprofits. In a discussion on WHBY’s Fresh Take with host Josh Ducklow Tuesday, Community Foundation President/CEO Curt Detjen said Giving Tuesday […]

By Kara Sullivan, Executive Director of the Friends of Appleton Public Library In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Friends of Appleton Public Library (Friends) was reminded how strong the community is when three couples stepped forward to support the nonprofit by creating new endowment funds with the Community Foundation. Sandra and Dr. Monroe […]

The Community Foundation received 100 CPR Anytime kits from the American Heart Association valued at $40 each, thanks to a grant from The George & Gussie Balck and Art and Mary Leske Charitable Fund within the Community Foundation. Many nonprofit organizations in the Fox Valley will receive these gifts to train teams to respond to […]

Jane Lowe, American Heart Association, dropped by the Community Foundation to deliver “Heart Boxes,” valuable resources supported by funds within the Community Foundation. By Jane Lowe, development director for the American Heart Association, Northeast Wisconsin February is American Heart Month, which reminds people of the importance of focusing on their cardiovascular health and well-being. But […]

Barbara Mendyke’s foresight in saving for her retirement is going to benefit 10 of her favorite charities forever. The former Barbara Russell was an Appleton kindergarten teacher. She invested in a tax-sheltered annuity through WEAC, a statewide organization of teachers’ unions, to secure her retirement. But she decided that instead of spending the annuity money […]