Leader Staff
The Shawano Area Community Foundation on Friday announced $34,877 in grants from its Shawano Area Fund to 12 charitable organizations serving people in Shawano County.
Todd Raether, chairman of the foundation board, said the grants, awarded in November, are intended to further the foundation’s mission of improving the quality of life for Shawano area residents.
“Our focus is on helping people give back to the community,” said Raether, who has been involved with the program for the past six years.
“I grew up in the Shawano area, and this area has always done well for me,” he said.
Raether said he is proud of the work done by the foundation over the years, particularly the assistance to area food pantries.
The Shawano Area Fund is an endowment that accepts donations of any amount to be used to provide annual unrestricted grants.
The grant recipients are selected by the foundation’s volunteer grants committee through a competitive application process each fall. The grant dollars come from the endowment fund and proceeds from the foundation’s annual August golf outing.
The Shawano Area Community Foundation was established in 1990 by community volunteers to preserve and 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, the second-largest community foundation in Wisconsin.
2013 Shawano Area Fund Grant Recipients:
• Bonduel School District, T-shirts for schoolwide Community Service Day, $1,500.
• Bonduel Bat and Ball Club, equipment and improvements to baseball fields at Cedar Park, $2,050.
• Bonduel Emergency Medical Services Inc., cardiac monitors for first responders, $5,000.
• Navarino-Lessor Fire Department, portable radios, $4,760
• Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, childcare assistance to single parent Shawano students, $5,000.
• Safe Haven Domestic Abuse Support Center, client services, $1,000.
• Shawano Community Middle School, online reading program, $2,000.
• Shawano Pathways, park to park loop signage, $5,000.
• St. Paul Lutheran Church Food Pantry, purchase freezer and shelving, $2,317.
• Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District, hunger awareness event, $500.
• Wolf River Habitat for Humanity, store weatherization, $4,500.
• Wolf River School to Work Foundation, eighth-grade career fair, $1,250.