By Robert Waugus
Salvation Army of the Fox Cities

The Salvation Army of the Fox Cities held a civic dinner May 10th to recognize employees, community volunteers and community supporters on the eve of National Salvation Army Week. Included in the honors were the donors of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.

Since 1917, the Salvation Army has been a part of Appleton, helping to meet the needs of the underserved. We all know that the Fox Cities is a tremendous community to be part of — a community where the residents are wonderful at sharing their treasures of time and resources with all causes.

Since 2005, charitable funds within the Community Foundation have taken part in designated days for matching community contributions to our Red Kettles during the annual Salvation Army Christmas fund drive, in some cases providing a two-to-one match. These donations, received around Christmas, make possible programs such as the Noon Feeding Program, Emergency Food Pantry, Project Home and our Children’s Learning Center, to name but a few.

Last year, a $40,000 dollar-for-dollar match by 21 individual family funds from within the Community Foundation challenged the community at 50 red kettle sites in the Fox Cities. The response to the Dec. 21 Community Foundation Match Day offering was pretty amazing. In a single day, gifts totaling more than $96,000 were placed in the kettles!

Added all together, the match day set an all-time record of some $136,000 collected at the kettles.

All of that was made possible by the generous Foundation donors, a caring community and our devoted volunteers who rang the bells.

Since 2005, the Community Foundation Red Kettle Match Day has offered $250,000 in matching money to the public. Our generous donors have placed close to $500,000 into the kettles during the Community Foundation matching gift day. The combined total is an AMAZING nearly $750,000 given to the Salvation Army to enhance the quality of life for the residents of the Fox Cities.

On behalf all the individuals and families we serve each and every day, we are so grateful for the continued support of the donor funds from with the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. Thank you for your continued support.

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