The joyfully decorated presents soon will surround your tree, to be followed by wall-to-wall scraps of torn giftwrap and smiling faces of children, young and old.

Here at the Community Foundation, we have been able to give and receive many great gifts. But our presents are delivered throughout the year as our donors show their generosity in supporting nonprofit projects and programs with grants from the charitable funds they establish here. Here are six ways our donors made a difference in the past year. Click on the blue links for more details.

1. Sandra Fuller/New London Historical Society: The New London woman left her family’s historic farmstead — site of the City Fair — to the New London Historical Society as part of her estate following her death July 4, 2015. She also left money for an endowment to support ongoing programming at the farm, which the historical society used to create the Sandra L. Fuller Thern Homestead Fund at the Community Foundation.
2. John Felker: John, from Neenah, was a gift given to our youth and arts community and then taken away this year with his passing in September. He was responsible for generations of Fox Cities youth experiencing live arts performances. His Performing Arts for Youth initiative will live on through the Performing Arts for Youth Fund established here.
3. Hannah Fitton: This 2014 graduate of Colgate University from Appleton decided to pay it forward for the Margaret Ferris Scholarship for the Hard of Hearing she recieved. She became the first of our scholarship recipients to create her own scholarship when she established the Living Your Dreams Scholarship Fund.
4. The Stumpf Family: Their fund gives voice to those who can’t speak and helps the disabled learn. Relatively small grants from the Corey and Kristy Stumpf Tech for Kids Fund pay for technology for handicapped children.
5. Dr. Susan Hanson: Her efforts make people ask, “Why is Wittenberg such a center for the arts?” Her Walls of Wittenberg Fund within the Shawano Area Community Foundation will make her support for the arts community live on.
6. Anonymous: That’s how some of our donors prefer to give. One anonymous donor offered a $10,000 matching grant to help American Legion Post 38 in Grand Chute pay for a town assessment for street repair that threatened to seriously affect its operations. The donor’s incentive generated $10, 415 in gifts.

Learn how you can make a lasting difference in your community now and later through the Community Foundation.

Get in the Loop.
Invite a friend to get in The Loop.