Rotary club members from Wausau, WI. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – The Wausau Rotary Club set out to raise $10,000 for gift card donations to help 100 local families. Instead, community support and donation matches from United Way and the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin led to a total of $36,000 raised, benefiting hundreds of families.
“We have been doing this for years and never raised anywhere near this amount. I think the most we have raised in the past has been somewhere in the $8,000 range,” said Patrick Bradley of the Wausau Rotary Club.
This yearly tradition gained extra traction as local organizations teamed up to donate up to 360 grocery gift cards to families through five area schools and the Wausau Women’s Community.
The schools include Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Weston and Athens Elementary. Bradley says there were “some passionate people who were willing to jump on board.”
MaiGer Moua, director of community impact at the United Way of Marathon County, emphasized the importance of diversity in food access for the Wausau community.
“The way that we are re-investing those dollars is first, working with our schools and with the women’s community to provide gift cards to those in need, so that we can continue to increase access to food,” said Moua.
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