Category: Donors’ Stories of Giving

12 hungry goats are keeping things tidy at an Appleton cemetery, thanks to an anonymous donor’s fund within the Community Foundation. Cemeteries are usually quiet places, where one can reflect. But visitors to St. Mary’s Cemetery in Appleton may hear an occasional munching sound, or even a bleat. The cemetery hired an unusual landscaping crew […]

Elaine Fetting was known and loved for her homemade candy, her brilliant photography, her classically trained singing voice and for her strong faith. After her death in 2016 at 89, she become known for something else: her unending generosity. Born in Sheboygan in 1927, Elaine Goldmann met and married the love of her life, Earl […]

While the exhibits at the Ashwaubenon Historical Society’s museum are closed due to the pandemic, a fundraiser and challenge grant is happening to expand the building and preserve the history of the community. The Ashwaubenon Historical Society has received a $20,000 grant from the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund within the Community […]

The Basic Needs Giving Partnership has awarded $3.5 million in grants in the past year to fight the causes of poverty as part of more than $5.56 million distributed to more than 200 nonprofits through the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region and community foundations in Oshkosh and Green Bay. Funding for the Fox […]

By David Horst – Donor Services and Environmental Grants Manager There’s no limit to how far the Community Foundation will go to explore a charitable interest of its donors. How else do you explain a swarm of honeybees settling into a tree in front of the office just days after Dick and Karen Gosse expressed […]

The Community Foundation lost a good and longtime friend with the death Sunday, Feb. 5, of Bill Schmidt. Bill, on behalf of his family’s company, U.S. Oil, arranged for the establishment of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region’s first charitable fund. The Diabetes Fund was established 1986 with the proceeds from U.S. Oil’s first golf outing. […]

WisconSibs and its partners teach lessons about not judging a book by its cover. When the nonprofit set out to help parents of children on the autism spectrum open the conversation about the challenges of the disorder with siblings, they accomplished that with, what else … books. A $1,000 grant awarded a year ago from […]

Brillion Iron Works’ 65-year tradition of charitable giving in the community will continue with the Board of Directors of the Brillion Foundation Inc. deciding to transfer its giving to a charitable fund within the Community Foundation’s Brillion Area Family of Funds. The Brillion Iron Works Fund will support the community giving started in 1953 by the late […]

At age 90, Dick Calder still gave of his time and great knowledge of the Fox Valley to help efforts to improve the community. At his side was his wife, Christine. They married in 1955 and raised four children. In 1994, the couple established the Dick and Chris Calder Fund, an endowment fund within the […]

By Michelle Lippart Hardwick Director of Gift Planning With the holidays and the end of 2017 just around the corner, it’s not too early to start thinking about year-end giving. We’re approaching a busy season and the Community Foundation is here to help you easily fulfill your charitable goals and learn more about your favored […]

Lindsay Fenlon of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Maren Peterson of NAMI and Lisa Kogan-Praska of Catalpa celebrate the ribbon-cutting. Watch it on the Waupaca Information Network. A boost to the mental health of Waupaca’s youth announced its arrival Tuesday with the grand opening of offices in the Waupaca Woods shopping center for the Appleton-based counseling […]

There’s nothing like a two-for-one deal to make you feel good about a shopping trip. Charitable giving has its own version of a two-for-one deal with challenge grants. For a challenge grant, a lead donor offers a given amount to support, but only if others contribute an equal amount. Contributors are motivated by knowing their […]