A $2,500 grant to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin – Fox Valley is providing Food Funds to approximately 11 member food pantries in Shawano County. Food funds are re-granted dollars to member organizations to source healthy food from warehouse inventory of perishable and shelf stable food products.

The Shawano Area Community Foundation (SACF) announced $50,100 in grants to 24 nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of life in Shawano and the surrounding area, awarded through its annual competitive October grant cycle and an additional round of grants made possible by a partnership with the Rhoades Sanford Foundation.

Photo courtesy Shawano Area Matthew 25 (SAM25)

The grant money includes a gift of $15,000 from the Neenah-based Rhoades Sanford Foundation made in September for SACF to award in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The Rhoades Sanford Foundation supports projects or programs in the areas of basic needs, culture, history and education in Door, Brown, Winnebago, Shawano, Waupaca and Outagamie counties. It formerly was the Albert and Mary Rhoades Foundation and Museum based in Waupaca. It is now stewarded by Charles and Lorinda Sanford and named to honor her parents.

Gary Janssen, a board member with the Rhoades Sanford Foundation, says its board wanted to allocate an extra $100,000 in grants to meet

Jon Meyers, SACF Board Chair

COVID-19 needs and partnered with SACF for $15,000 of that because of its ongoing relationship. “We wanted to get the funds into the hands of those who could use it best, and in a timely manner,” Janssen says.

SACF board members were happy to oblige and see more funding distributed in the community. Jon Meyers, SACF board chair, says, “We are honored the Rhoades Sanford Foundation chose the SACF to assist in awarding funds to community organizations impacted by COVID-19. As grant recipients, these nonprofits will be able to further provide for the people they serve.”

The combined grant money from Rhoades Sanford and SACF funded these organizations:

Boys & Girls Club of Shawano, January 2020

• Boys & Girls Club of Shawano: $5,000 for unrestricted use and $2,500 to help with general operating support to recover lost revenue due to coronavirus-related cancellation of their two largest 2020 fund-raisers.
• Safe Haven Domestic Abuse Support Center: $5,000 for unrestricted use and $1,000 to provide support for operational expenses to allow continued programming and services through COVID-19.
• Shawano Area Matthew 25 (SAM25): $5,000 designated to the Virtual Grand Opening match drive and $2,500 to help with general operating expenses.

In addition to its joint grantmaking with the Rhoades Sanford Foundation, SACF approved these grants from its annual competitive grant program:

• Bridge the Gap: $2,500 to help with general operating expenses (rent, etc.).
• Camp HOPE: $2,000 for Weekend Bereavement Camp, which gives grieving children and their families the chance to get away and enjoy the Wisconsin Lion’s Camp in Rosholt. Funds will help cover the costs of the facility rental, food and supplies (arts and crafts materials, t-shirts, workbooks).
• City of Shawano: $1,500 to help support a new windsurfing program for Shawano County residents, currently offered as a free experience to participants. Funds will be used to purchase up to 3 additional windsurfing boards and rigs.
• Community Alternatives: $2,000 toward the purchase of 14 iPads for residential program for adults with disabilities to encourage virtual visits between members and their loved ones, allow telehealth visits with doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, and therapists, and promote social engagement activities to stay connected to decrease isolation.
• Community Benefit Tree, Inc.: $1,750 to support general operating expenses
  to ensure staffing, volunteers, training, resources, and materials to assist 20 families in Shawano County throughout the pandemic and to help grow their program.
• Family Caregivers Rock: $800 to help with the purchase of items for the Cheer Basket Program. “Cheer Baskets” are provided to family caregivers in Shawano County which contain an assortment of useful and fun items, information on local caregiver resources and a note of encouragement.
• Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin – Fox Valley: $2,500 will provide Food Funds to approximately 11 member food pantries in Shawano County. Food funds are re-granted dollars to member organizations to source healthy food from warehouse inventory of perishable and shelf stable food products.
• Homme Home Foundation: $2,000 will help toward the purchase of a handicap accessible bus for residents providing them enjoyment with outings in local and surrounding communities.
• Junior Achievement of Wisconsin – Wolf River Region District: $2,000 will be used to support general operating expenses to deliver Junior Achievement programming to Shawano County area schools.
• Mission of Hope House of Wisconsin: $1,500 will be used to support general operating expenses for MOHH which provides shelter and supervision for individuals experiencing homelessness and their families, helping them set goals toward self-sufficiency, and providing needed items as they transition to more economic stability.
• Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Educational Foundation: $1,500 will support single parents in low income households that reside in Shawano county, to help promote and retain their student status, complete their degree and ultimately graduate.
• REACH-A-CHILD: $1,000 to help purchase children’s books for each of the 20 vehicles within the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department to provide to children
  they encounter on crisis calls.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin: $2,000 to renew SACF’s 2-month short-term room sponsorship which provides families a place to stay while their children are being treated at a partner hospital.
• Shawano County Library: $2,000 to help fund 17 wireless hot spots over a 2-year period that can be checked out by patrons to use offsite from all six branches of Shawano County Library.
• Shawano Pathways Organization for Kids Environment & Safety: $1,000 to help purchase signage and maps in two areas where hiking and snowshoeing are allowed.
• The FRESH Project: $1,250 will be used to expand FRESH Project’s Mobile Market program and the number of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes to low income families, seniors and adults with disabilities.
• Tigerton School District: $1,000 will be used to cover care for the chickens in the Tigerton Elementary Chicken Coop, including feed, bedding, repairs (as needed), upgrades, vet expenses and supplements.
• Wolf River Harmony: $800 to help cover a scholarship award for the 2020-2021 for a student majoring in vocal music.

The Shawano Area Community Foundation was established in 1990 by and for the people of the area to improve the quality of life in Shawano and the surrounding area. It is an affiliate of the Appleton-based Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. Click here to learn more.