The Loop

Since May, I’ve hosted 18 Community Conversations on behalf of your Community Foundation that have aired on the nonprofit radio station 91.1 The Avenue and appear on its website.

Can you believe it is back to school time already? For most students this is a very exciting and busy time of year.  For college-bound students this can also mean a bit of apprehension.  New surroundings, new friends, new teachers and classes, and a financial burden that comes along with their goal for an education […]

With Mile of Music kicking off tomorrow, I have to say I am getting pretty excited.  I have always loved all types of music. Playing percussion in band as well as leading as a drum major were passions of mine in high school, and I am not one to turn down a free concert on […]

Maintaining a vibrant and strong community is challenging.  It requires vision, creativity and leadership. It takes people willing to put themselves out there for the good of the community. Our community has been talking about investing in both an exhibition center and a sizable indoor youth sports arena.  Each will require tens of millions of […]

I noticed very shortly after joining the Community Foundation 11 years ago that, for as much of a mystery as it is for a lot of people, its impact is everywhere you turn. When I drive around in the Fox Cities, I see a nonprofit helping the homeless, a basketball court, a bike rack on […]

A good friend and former colleague recently shared a plaque that reads: “Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.”  That may have been a younger generation’s response to a bumper sticker – popular among retirees – that proclaims: “I’m spending my kids’ inheritance!” Donors to the Community Foundation have found many creative […]

A couple months ago I mentioned to a friend that I planned to participate in a “plunge” and she envisioned me doing a polar bear-style leap into an icy lake. Not me—I’m more of a heated pool type—but I was more than willing to do a deep dive into the issue of end-of-life in our […]

Hi everyone! My name is Claire Baker and I am spending this summer as an intern here at the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. I grew up in Appleton and graduated from Appleton East High School in 2013.  I have just completed my freshman year at UW Madison and I love being a […]

You might expect that Stanley Cottrill would receive a lot of attention when he recently gave gifts totaling $2.3 million to nine charities, but he wouldn’t. He is the classic quiet giver that we see in the greater Fox Valley.

The best way to get a neighborhood to grow together, might be for them to grow things together. A project that attempts to help a central Appleton neighborhood work toward a better quality of life – from the dirt up – geared up this week with volunteers from the Fox Cities Kiwanis Club delivering wooden garden […]