Weyauwega and “international” may seem unlikely to fall into the same sentence, but the Weyauwega International Film Festival saw enough success last year to receive a $4,600 grant for the second annual festival to be held in November,
The Waupaca Area Community Foundation will present a record $110,711 in grants at its annual Celebration of Giving Sept. 20 at the Best Western Plus Grand Seasons Hotel in Waupaca.
“Through a combination of generous donations during our gala in June, and money from our community endowment fund, the WACF board was happy to be able to award another record total in grants to nonprofit organizations that are doing good work in the Waupaca area,” said Dr. Jack Rhodes, who chairs the Advisory Board for WACF, an affiliate of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. He said that the level and quality of the grant proposals was strong this year, as it has been in the past.
The evening starts at 6 p.m. with refreshments and appetizers followed by the presentation of grant checks to the recipients at 7 p.m. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. For more information contact WACF board member Tim Neuville at 715-256-2911 or Rhodes at 715-256-1939.
Representatives of the film festival and two other grant recipients will make presentations about their programs at the gala. The others are CAP Services, on a $5,000 grant for patients from Waupaca County to be treated at the Ministry Dental Center in Stevens Point, and Bethany Home Inc., on $2,500 it received to support community dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Descriptions of the grants are available at www.cffoxvalley.org/Waupaca. The recipients and their projects and grant amounts are:
• Bethany Home Inc.: Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meal programs for people who would otherwise be alone or financially unable to prepare a holiday meal, $2,500.
• CAP Services-Stevens Point: Support for Waupaca County patients seen at Ministry Dental Center in Stevens Point, $5,000.
• CAP Services-Stevens Point: Family Crisis Center Outreach Office in Waupaca County, $5,000.
• CAP Services-Stevens Point: Skills Enhancement Program in Waupaca County, $5,000.
• CHAPS Academy: Hope Lives equine-assisted youth suicide prevention and intervention program, $5,000.
• City of Waupaca Parks and Recreation: Replacement metal recycling containers at Riverside, Brainards Bridge, Upper and Lower South Park Shelters, South Park Beach and Lakemen Field, $1,902.
• Creative Caring Hearts: Fabric and yarn to make infant layettes, $3,500.
• Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin – Fox Valley: Food and related products for qualified nonprofit programs in Waupaca County, $5,000.
• Foundations For Living: Rent for one year for two houses to use as transitional housing – one for males, one for females, $5,000.
• Fox Valley Literacy Council Inc.: Educational materials, supplies and travel costs associated with providing adult literacy services in the Waupaca area, $3,000.
• Harbor House Domestic Abuse Program: Prevention education in Waupaca County using age-appropriate curriculum on bullying, positive peer relationships and dating violence, $2,000.
• Iola-Scandinavia School District: Purchase of musical instruments, $5,000.
• Iola-Scandinavia School District: Support of a program to purchase of 300 computers to issue a machine to each high school student, $5,000.
• Junior Achievement of WI Inc.: Programs that teach financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness at Waupaca Middle School and Weyauwega-Fremont Elementary School, $3,200.
• Prevent Child Abuse of Waupaca: Information and referral for parenting and family concerns, free parenting and family classes, support networks and free on-site childcare for program participants, $3,000.
• Prevent Child Abuse of Waupaca: Improvements to the area for interviewing and observing children and parents involved in cases of suspected of child abuse or neglect, in collaboration with Child Protective Services, and education for the public regarding child abuse and neglect deterrents during child abuse prevention month, $3,000.
• Rawhide Boys Ranch: About Face Community Outreach Program, $5,000.
• Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church: Nutritious food and snacks, backpacks, storage totes and shelving materials to expand the current Project Backpack program, $5,000.
• University of Wisconsin Extension – Waupaca County: Leadership training experiences for high school agriculture students, $2,000.
• Waupaca Area Orchestra: Musician stipends and expenses, overhead for the Gerold Opera House (Weyauwega), sheet music and instrument rentals for the 2012-13 season inaugural concert, $2,500.
• Waupaca Area Public Library: Three nationally recognized teen authors for an annual Book Festival, $1,860.
• Waupaca Area Public Library: Three nationally recognized children’s authors for an annual Book Festival, $5,000.
• Waupaca Community Garden: Annual operating expenses, $5,000.
• Waupaca County Healthy Beginnings: Safety devices, equipment and training to protect children from intentional and unintentional injuries in their homes, $5,000.
• Waupaca County Healthy Beginnings: Monthly group events, including a nutritious meal, activity supplies and books for group participants, $2,650.
• Waupaca County Healthy Beginnings: Age-appropriate, librarian-recommended books for children enrolled in the Little Libraries program, $2,000.
• Waupaca County Healthy Beginnings: New and replacement educational materials, $1,000.
• Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department: Night vision that can be used in conjunction with spotting scopes, binoculars or rifle scopes, $4,999.
• Waupaca Senior Citizens Center: Remodeling of the senior center kitchen, $2,000.
• Weyauwega Arts Organization: Organization and promotion of the second annual Weyauwega International Film Festival in November 2012, $4,600.
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.