The Mielke Family Foundation handed out $50,000 in grant money Nov. 12 to four local organizations as part of its fall campaign of giving.
Safe Haven received the biggest award, $25,000, which will go toward replacing its outdoor play area through the Rebuilding Through Play project, according to Alona Boots, donor services specialist for the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.
“This is helping to replace the aging and unsafe equipment they currently have to support the families and children that they are supporting through their services,” Boots said.
Another $10,000 will go to Shawano Adventure Sports, which is planning to create a bike park at Kuckuk Park next year.
“This sports project will plan the development of a youth-focused bike park to promote safe and happy recreation,” Boots said.
The Shawano Boys and Girls Club will also receive $10,000, which will be put toward an emotional wellness program for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
“The emotional wellness program … uses positive action, sources of strength and mindfulness activities to provide the individual support and case management to connect students with social workers, offer telehealth services and explore the incorporation of therapy dogs into reading programs while delivering trauma-informed training in universal, emotional wellness skills to staff,” Boots said.
Rounding out the awards is Shawano County Big Brothers Big Sisters, which will get $5,000 for its youth mentoring program. The money is expected to provide at least five more children with volunteer mentors.
“This program reduces isolation and increases access to positive role models while building a stronger, more resilient future for Shawano County,” Boots said.
Matt Hendricks, the city parks and recreation director who also sits on the foundation’s board of directors as co-vice chair and secretary, noted that the Mielke name has not been as prominent in recent years in the Shawano area, but the recent awards show that the family’s legacy of giving is stronger than ever.
“The Mielke family has a lot of history, although maybe not as recent as they would like,” Hendricks said. “We’re hoping that name becomes more prevalent and supportive in our community, and how that is being done is through the community foundation — an agency that helps communities flourish by providing different resources to organizations.”
The foundation’s main focus is education, but it also supports the arts, health, aging and youths in the Shawano and Appleton areas.
“We really have some incredible projects doing some incredible work,” Boots said. “These projects that are receiving funding are actually champions of those areas, and we’re proud to recognize them tonight.”
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