The Loop

The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region celebrated Earth Day on April 22 by announcing two grants from its Environmental Sustainability Partnership grant program totaling nearly $50,000 to improve water quality in the lower Fox River and build an amphitheater at Waupaca’s Eco Park. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance received $23,900 to develop a database […]

Small acts can fight evil. Small acts can succeed where overwhelming force can’t, or isn’t present. Each of these more than 400 pinwheels displayed at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Commercial Street building in Neenah, represents a child in our community who was the victim of domestic violence, neglect, sexual assault or severe trauma. The Child […]

Bob and Pat Endries presented a grant check for $10,000 from their Bob and Pat Endries Charitable Fund to SOAR to purchase new uniforms for athletes who participate in Special Olympics. The Brillion couple presented the grant check on Dec. 22 during a basketball practice for the Special Olympians at Foster Elementary School in Appleton. The Robert and Pat Endries Family […]

Candice Zehner taught middle school students about valuing themselves through her “True Beauty” Program. David Bond ran a support group for victims of brain tumors. Sue Kinde earned the nickname “the Mother of the Fox Cities Trail System.” Robert Bertschausen worked hard to make diversity a reason for celebration. The staff at Aerotek has donated […]

Turning 72 acres of chemically fed golf course into a garden space seemed like an idea out on the fringe, but the right people with the right intentions made it a good investment for one of the Community Foundation’s first Community Leadership grants. In 2012, our $60,000 match leveraged a $60,000 grant from the national Funders’ […]

It comes down to the wire every year, but in 2015 the result was a little different. Congress has again reauthorized direct charitable gifts from IRAs. For someone at least age 70 ½ who doesn’t need a required distribution to meet his or her personal needs, giving to a favorite charity directly from an IRA […]

The holiday season brings such warm feelings that people’s thoughts often turn to charity. For the more practical among us, maybe it’s the Dec. 31 tax deadline that leads some to think of getting their deductions in order. Whatever motivates you, your year-end giving is vital to support the good work done by nonprofits all […]

Seven generations ago, Elisha D. Smith bought a wooden bucket factory that grew into the international packaging company Menasha Corp. Now a handful of his descendants are working to hand down a legacy of philanthropy and are finding it’s also good for business. Starting with $50,000, the group dreams of having a major impact on charities in the […]

During this National Community Foundation Week, I’m happy to say that philanthropy is thriving in the Fox Valley area. That’s certainly the message in our annual Report to the Community for fiscal year 2014-15. Our donors set a record for the second consecutive year by awarding $16.3 million in grants to 986 nonprofits for the year […]

While sitting in the audience of about 340 people, including several Community Foundation staff, board members and donors, during Fox Cities Housing Coalition’s release of data from its Project RUSH (Research to Understand and Solve Homelessness) yesterday, a few things made an impression. The FCHC’s research partner, the Amherst Wilder Foundation in Minneapolis, doubted that […]