The Waupaca Area Community Foundation will award more than $117,000 in grants to 26 nonprofit organizations at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Best Western, 110 Grand Seasons Drive, Waupaca.
There will be no appeals for money and nothing to purchase at this annual Celebration of Giving. To learn more or reserve a seat, call Jack Rhodes at 715-256-1939 or Tim Neuville at 715-256-2911 by 5 p.m. Sept. 27.
The grants are awarded from the WACF’s Waupaca Area Community Fund, which is supported by proceeds from its annual gala and other contributions.
The following grants will be awarded:
• American Red Cross in Northeast Wisconsin: Ten training stipends for low-income adults in Waupaca for the American Red Cross Nurse Assistant Training program, $5,000.
• Auxiliary of Riverside Medical Center: Purchase of 1,000 new books for ages 6 months to five years for the Prescription to Read program, which encourages families to read to children, $3,000.
• Bethany Home, Inc.: Support for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meals for people in the community who would otherwise be alone or financially unable to prepare meals, $1,250.
• The Bread Basket: Support for free weekly meals, $5,000.
• CAP Services-Stevens Point: Wages for at-risk youth in the Fresh Start program, who work on building a home to develop life skills and complete their high school diploma or its equivalent, $5,000; Support for Waupaca County patients seen at the Ministry Dental Center in Stevens Point, which serves only those qualified through Medicaid and Badger Care, $5,000; Family Crisis Center Waupaca County Outreach Office, serving adults and children affected by domestic violence in Waupaca County, $5,000; Skills Enhancement Program, helping Waupaca County residents who are working poor to increase their wages or advance their careers through additional education or training $5,000.
• CHAPS Academy: Support for the Hope Lives Youth Suicide Prevention and Intervention Program, $5,000.
• Financial Information Service Center (FISC): Outreach for financial education workshops throughout the greater Waupaca area, $3,775.
• Foundations For Living: Four transitional living houses in Waupaca, $5,000.
• Friends of the Waupaca City Park: Waupaca’s Fall-O-Rama, a community event and a fundraiser for Friends of Waupaca Parks and other local nonprofit organizations, $3,762.
• Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes: Exploring the Arts, a program offering 250 girls and volunteers from the Waupaca area the opportunity to work on creative projects, and then attend a performance at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, $2,400.
• Home and Away Ministries (Ruby’s Pantry): Addition of loading docks to the food pantry facility to increase efficiency and safety, $2,500.
• Humane Society of Waupaca County: No More Litters, providing spay/neuter surgery for 80-90 companion animals belonging to low-income families, $2,500.
• Iola Historical Society: A climate-controlled storage area at the Robert R. & Stella Strand Resource Center to help preserve artifacts and historical records, $2,500.
• NuAct: Additional third-grade nutrition education through the Waupaca County Farm-to-School program, including planting sessions, local grower visits, and fruit and vegetable tastings, $5,000.
• Prevent Child Abuse of Waupaca: Updating of the waiting room and halls that lead into the interview room to create a more trauma-sensitive environment for children and adults traumatized
by sexual, physical and emotional abuse, $1,500; Support for the Waupaca Family Resource Center, which offers information and referral for parenting and family concerns, and free parenting classes, support networks and on-site childcare for program participants, $5,000.
• Rawhide Boys Ranch: Support for the About Face Community Outreach Program, which uses community service to educate and rehabilitate at-risk young men, $5,000.
• Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church: Nutritious food and snacks and backpacks for Project Backback, $5,000.
• VSA Wisconsin: Appearance at the Waupaca Area Public Library in January and February 2014 of a traveling exhibition of art by adults and children with disabilities, $1,200.
• Waupaca Area Food Pantry: Replacement of two freezers, $750.
• Waupaca Area Public Library: Replacement of deteriorated acrylic tops on eight exhibit cases, $2,000.
• Waupaca County Crime Stoppers: One year’s use of TipSoft software until Waupaca Crime Stoppers can sustain this program for crime prevention and solution, $1,200.
• Waupaca County Healthy Beginnings: Nutritious meals, activity supplies, books or learning toys and other costs for “Journeys” group sessions, $3,000; Educational materials for families participating in the Teachable Moments program, $3,000; Age-appropriate, librarian-recommended books for children enrolled in the Little Libraries early literacy program, $3,000; safety supplies and equipment for the Safe and Sound Initiative, which strives to protect children from intentional and unintentional injuries in their homes, $3,000.
• Waupaca Historical Society: Restoration of unsafe porches at the Hutchinson House Museum, $3,500.
• Waupaca Pregnancy Information Center: Equipment and labor to address the air quality problems in the organization’s building, $3,457.
• Weyauwega Arts Organization: Support for the Waupaca Area Orchestra 2014 spring concert, $2,500; Expanded promotion and offerings of the third annual Weyauwega International Film Festival in November, $1,250; Production and promotion of the third annual, original material One Act Play Festival at the Gerold Opera House in Weyauwega, $1,250.
• School District of Waupaca: Support for local teachers to attend the CESA 6 Autism Effectiveness Academy training program, $5,000.
The Waupaca Area Community Foundation was established in 2003 by and for the people of the area to improve the quality of life in Waupaca-area communities. It is an affiliate of the Appleton-based Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.