Category: Grants Making a Difference

By Holly Femal, Community Enrichment Director of the Village of Kimberly The Village of Kimberly has plans for a waterfront trail as a part of the larger Loop the Locks project, to increase free recreational opportunities in the Heart of the Valley region and the Fox River corridor. As a part of a larger redevelopment […]

A scholarship fund set up to benefit graduates from six Calumet County school districts by a hard-working couple is itself working hard to carry out their charitable legacy. Violet Laack taught in Reedsville, Brillion and Kiel, starting in a one-room schoolhouse, and continued substitute teaching into her 80s. Her husband, Ruben, worked at his cheese factory […]

Stand on the overlook at Wequiock Falls north of Green Bay and you will see a fence loaded with padlocks, some inscribed with initials. An international craze called “love locks” has found this remote Brown County Park along Highway 57. Lovers have clipped the locks on the chain link fence as testimony to the permanence […]

(PHOTO CREDIT: Lawrence University) Lawrence opera students utilize sign language in a new conception of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers. The production will help educate hearing audiences about the richness of deaf/hard-of-hearing language and culture, thanks to grants from the Bright Idea Fund and the Jewelers Mutual Charitable Giving Fund, […]

On April 17, 2026, the 10th cohort of the Leadership Institute attended their graduation ceremony, surrounded by fellow Leadership Institute alumni, community members, and guests. The Leadership Institute is a year-long program designed to enhance the confidence and capabilities of nonprofit leaders in critical areas such as leadership, management, technical skills, and governance. “Nonprofit teams […]

LEAVEN Fox Cities broke ground Wednesday on its new Community Resource Center, an expansion expected to bring numerous nonprofits together to offer a wider range of services to the needy at the Opportunity Way nonprofit campus in Menasha. Executive Director Mary Parsons thanked the donors for helping them meet their $1 million goal, McMahon for donating […]

LEAVEN is celebrating its newly expanded Community Resource Center after nearly a year of construction. A ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday launched the way for LEAVEN (Limited Emergency Assistance Valley Ecumenical Network) to better provide comprehensive, integrated services and programs under one roof. The building has now doubled in size and has space for more than 20 […]

Mary Parsons had a gut feeling about why clients at LEAVEN weren’t getting services they were being referred to, but she needed someone to POINT the way toward testing her theory. LEAVEN’s experience with POINT (Poverty Outcomes and Improvement Network Team) allowed Parsons and her staff to compile a compelling case for an expansion to […]

Pat and Jerry Rickman have a list of reasons for having a charitable fund with the Community Foundation. They want to use some of their retirement savings to support their favorite causes – including education for the very young and for young adults, as well as parks and green spaces in the Neenah area. Both have […]

When Helen and William Burger passed away, they left a legacy gift they hoped would make a difference in the Town and City of Neenah. Their field of interest endowment fund has recently supported the Voting for a Change exhibit, bringing the history of the 19th Amendment to life at the Neenah Historical Society; Neenah […]

The Neenah youth drop-in center YouthGo has done what a lot of families do when they run out of household storage space – they’ve taken over the garage. In YouthGo’s case, first they had to build the garage. They accomplished that with help from the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Leadership Fox Cities […]

The current library in New London. The community will soon have a state-of-the-art facility thanks to a $250,000 grant from the Marilynn Taylor/Wohlt Cheese Fund. By Ann Hunt, Director at New London Public Library The New London Library Board, along with the Friends of the Library and the Fund Raising Committee, were excited to receive […]