Fox Valley Memory Project is a godsend, not only for folks experiencing memory loss, but for their family, care partners and friends. That’s because it operates and supports programs and services that improve their quality of life. Located at the Goodwill Community Campus at 1800 Appleton Road in Menasha, the Memory Project’s purpose […]
When Scott Cieslek was looking for volunteer opportunities three years ago, his wife and daughter agreed that he would be a good mentor. They were right. He was matched with a boy who was on the waiting list for the Outagamie County Mentoring Program and they have been getting together weekly ever since. The program, […]
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Fox Valley Region and Best Friends of Neenah-Menasha merged on Jan. 1 to become one organization called Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Wisconsin. The newly combined youth mentoring agency, which is located at 1331 American Dr., Neenah, will serve more than 650 youth in Calumet, Outagamie, Waupaca […]
Visitors who tour Hearthstone Historic House Museum in December will feel like they are wandering into the old poem, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Rooms will be decorated with unique features of the season, along with aspects of Victorian yuletide traditions, including antique dolls and toys under the trees decorated with antique ornaments. Sugared and […]
Penny Svetlik volunteers every Monday morning at The Salvation Army-Fox Cities by assisting between 30 to 40 clients get their monthly allotment of groceries in the food pantry. She remembers one instance the first year she volunteered that brings tears to her eyes. “One older woman was just so painfully grateful and so timid about […]
The familiar “ding, ding, ding” of volunteer bell ringers will begin Nov. 15 for The Salvation Army-Fox Cities Red Kettle Campaign, and this year the organization is rolling out bell-ringing incentives for volunteers. Alli Oravec, volunteer coordinator, said there will be something special every day. “Monday is Music Monday, so if you are playing your […]
Jerry Roberts began visiting Elmer Feifarek at his home in Grand Chute as a volunteer for ElderMatch Fox Cities, but through the years, he has become part of the family. Jeanette Feifarek, Elmer’s daughter, moved from her home in Madison last year to be his primary caregiver. She explains that despite her father’s progressive vascular […]
Living in isolation can be deadly. Research has linked social isolation and loneliness to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and even death, according to the National Institute on Aging. To reduce isolation […]
Paul Anderson is a big-picture guy, while his wife, Carol, is detail-oriented, but both are passionate about education and have spent nearly the last two decades supporting Horizons Elementary School in Appleton. After teaching at Johnston Elementary School for 30 years, Paul retired in 2000 and began tutoring first-graders at Horizons in United for Reading […]
Appleton Area School District has been refining and improving its reading and math tutoring programs for more than two decades, but there is one thing that hasn’t changed – volunteers remain the heart and soul of the programs. Volunteer tutors who work with first-graders in the United for Reading Success (UFRS) program support their efforts […]