Editor’s note: This is the first article of a monthly series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Shawano Area Community Foundation.
Barbara Schmidt knew Shawano’s future as a place to work and raise a family would depend upon it maintaining a high quality of life. That was back in 1990.
The solution the Shawano businesswoman came upon was to establish the Shawano Area Community Foundation. She worked with Shawano real estate agent Ron Malueg and other volunteers to make it happen.
The SACF, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, provides a way for people to support the community for the long term, through nonprofit organizations and government, religious and educational institutions. It has awarded more than $2.2 million in grants over those 25 years.
SACF is a family of funds within the Appleton-based Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. Individuals, families, businesses and other organizations can establish a charitable fund within the SACF to provide support for their favorite causes or general community needs through the Shawano Area Fund, now or long into the future.
“The foundation is very important to me,” Schmidt said. “They’re helping people, and that’s all I hoped for.”
The Robert and Barbara Schmidt Family Fund has been growing from the couple’s initial gifts and through investment. Barbara Schmidt said it serves as a placeholder for an estate gift to SACF after their lifetimes.
Schmidt said she and husband, Bob, feel the need to give something back to a community that gave them a good life and success with their business, Lakeshore Telephone Company. They sold the company in 1989.
“We want to help people stay in the Shawano area and give them a better way of life,” she said.
