PAID SUMMER INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY

The Door County Community Foundation is offering an opportunity for a motivated college student (or high school student that will be a senior this Fall) to learn more about the philanthropic world by working as our Summer Intern. It’s ideal for anyone interested in pursuing a career in non-profit organizations, human services, or government.

This internship opportunity is designed to provide the young person an invaluable educational experience while still performing real work tasks for the Community Foundation.

You’ll learn more about:

• How foundations evaluate grant applications submitted by non-profit organizations
• The mechanics of the granting process
• Developing relationships with our friends and donors
• How foundations bring people together to accomplish great things for the community

You’ll help us by:

•  Contacting charities to update our grantee due diligence files
• Updating and maintaining our donor files
• Assisting with special events, mailings, and other donor activities
• Performing a myriad of general administrative tasks as needed

We expect that you are:

•  Conscientious and detail-oriented
• Willing to maintain a high level of personal and professional integrity
• Able to keep confidential all donor and grantee information
• Capable of working with others to accomplish the Community Foundation’s mission
• Interested in having fun and enjoying your colleagues and work

Working Relationships:

•  The Summer Intern reports on a daily basis to the Donor Services Officer but also works collaboratively with the other professional staff of the Community Foundation

Schedule:

• 20 hours per week, during the regular business day, through your summer break
• Specific days and/or hours worked is negotiable
• Flexible schedule makes it easy to hold a second summer job (if you so desire)

Compensation:

• $10/hour
• As this is a temporary summer position, no benefits are provided other than copious amounts of free caffeinated beverages

Classification:

• Part-Time, temporary, non-exempt internship

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To apply, send cover letter, resume with applicable work history, and at least two references to:

Bret Bicoy
Door County Community Foundation
222 N. 3rd Ave.
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
or email careers@givedoorcounty.org

• Emailed resumes are preferred
• Resumes will be accepted until the position is filled
• We will begin reviewing resumes on Monday, April 22
• Interviews can occur in person or by video conference if you are not in the County

Discuss Door County: Growing Older Community Statement Release and Reception

The Community Foundation invites the community to a public reception for the unveiling of the Discuss Door County: Growing Older in Door County Community Statement.

Discuss Door County is the banner under which the Door County Community Foundation listens to the community. Throughout 2016, the community gathered together to share their aspirations and visions for us as we grow older together as part of Discuss Door County: Growing Older in Door County. The Final Report is an outgrowth of that work.

Rather than releasing a dry report, the Community Foundation wanted to add the flavor that is so indicative of Door County and enhance the report with artwork and creativity. All artwork that was submitted for consideration to be included in the Final Report will be on display at the May 9th reception. We are honored to be displaying the works of Nalani Bicoy, Faith Blackley, Martha Coventry, Diane Evenson, Laurie Haig, Beverly Hart Branson, Bonnie Hartmann, Susan Hoffman, Sherry Mutchler, Rafael Phillips, Brian Pier, Susan Reyonlds-Smith, Gerald Richter, Judy Roy, Nancy Sargent, Jamaica Schroedl, Julie Stratton, Paula Wendland, and Buttons Wolst.

A public reception to release the Final Report and unveil the artwork will be held on May 9^th, 2017 at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm.  If you are able to attend, please email rsvp@GiveDoorCounty.org or call 920-746-1786 to RSVP.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County.  The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $17 million in charitable assets.

Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to the Peninsula Players Theatre Foundation, Inc.

The Door County Community Foundation recently awarded Peninsula Players a Sustainability Grant from the Arts Fund to support the program, The Play’s the Thing.  Components of the program involve offering free, off-season play readings to the public and also provides opportunities for students to receive play writing instruction that culminates in a play writing contest.

The free public play readings, held at various sites throughout Door County, provide the community with an enriching opportunity to hear plays read aloud that would not normally be produced at Peninsula Players.  In addition, students have the unique experience to learn about different ways of writing and then practice applying that learning with the help of professional guidance.

“These readings provided the community with the enriching opportunity to hear plays read aloud that would not normally be produced at the Players due to their size, nature and/or complexity,” said David Eliot, Past Chair of the Door County Community Foundation.

Pictured from left to right is Davis Eliot of the Door County Community Foundation and Danielle Szmanda, Development & Events Manager. 

Peninsula Players Theatre is America’s oldest professional resident summer theatre and Wisconsin’s oldest professional theater company.  The Players have produced more than 500 plays at the “Theatre in a Garden” and is one of only two remaining resident stock theaters producing beyond the east coast.

For more information regarding Peninsula Players, please call (920) 868-3287 or visit www.PeninsulaPlayers.com

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Education Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, Healthy Water Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County.  The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $16 million in charitable assets.

 

Healthy Water Door County Announces Second Round of Free Well-Testing

Healthy Water Door County, a fund of the Door County Community Foundation, Inc., is pleased to announce a second round of free well-testing for Door County residents. This program is part of a long-term initiative to promote high quality drinking water while providing a convenient way for Door County residents to monitor their well water.

Healthy Water Door County was created to address critical water quality issues in our area.  “Door County’s unique geography makes our water vulnerable,” says Bret Bicoy, President & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation.  “As a peninsula situated on the Niagara Escarpment, our thin soil layer, combined with the vertical and horizontal fracturing common in our bedrock, makes protecting our water a priority.”

Healthy Water Door County’s mission is to protect our community’s human, environmental, and economic health by guarding against threats to our water. It is with this mission in mind that Healthy Water has awarded a grant to the Environmental Research and Innovation Center at UW Oshkosh to conduct a county-wide well monitoring program during the weekend of June 3 & 4 and June 10 & 11. This grant should provide free test kits to virtually any Door County property owner or resident who would like one.  Of course, if participants choose to purchase a test kit, the money saved will be used to support other water projects in Door County.

Over both weekends, residents will be able to pick up testing kits and ask questions of the experts on hand from UW Oshkosh.  Water samples may then be brought back to the pick-up sites that same day, the next day, or the following week for analysis.  The well water tests include bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, and iron tests, funded by Healthy Water Door County.

Test Kits may be picked up and dropped off at the following locations:

Friday, June 3^rd, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 4th, from 9 a.m. to Noon

• Clay Banks Town Hall – 6098 County Road OO, Sturgeon Bay
• Crossroads at Big Creek – 2041 Michigan Street, Sturgeon Bay
• Sister Bay Liberty Grove Fire Department – 2258 Mill Rd, Sister Bay

 

Friday, June 10^th, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 11^th, from 9 a.m. to Noon

• Clay Banks Town Hall – 6098 County Road OO, Sturgeon Bay
• Crossroads at Big Creek – 2041 Michigan Street, Sturgeon Bay
• Sister Bay Liberty Grove Fire Department – 2258 Mill Rd, Sister Bay

 

Please note, due to construction, there is an alternate route to reach Crossroads at Big Creek:
Cross Highway 42 at County T. Follow County T to Big Creek Road and turn right. Follow Big Creek Road to Lily Bay Road and turn right. Follow Lily Bay which merges with Michigan at Crossroads.

For more information about well testing, contact Caitlin Koller of the Environmental Research and Innovation Center (ERIC) at UW Oshkosh at (920) 424-3148, or email kollerc@uwosh.edu.

For more information about Healthy Water Door County, or to make a contribution, visit www.HealthyWaterDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County.  The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $16 million in charitable assets.  For more information about the Door County Community Foundation, visit us online at www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

My Father Is Still Teaching Me About Generosity

Every year the Door County Community Foundation presents an event called Preview Door County for our friends in Southwest Florida. From our vibrant arts community to our wonderful music, to those who steward and protect our environment treasures, the goal of Preview Door County is to remind our seasonal residents that so much of what they love about our peninsula is inextricably intertwined with the world of charity. We don’t often think of it this way, but charity provides much of the reason people come to Door County and it’s what keeps them coming back year after year. These nonprofit organizations are essential to our quality of life and are an indispensable part of the economic engine of our community.

This year’s Preview Door County took place in Bonita Springs, Florida, on March 15. As I stood before the crowd to offer a few comments, I couldn’t help but reflect upon the fact that this day was the third anniversary of my father’s passing. I wrote about him in the Peninsula Pulse in 2013 in a piece titled “The Man Who Taught Me About Generosity.”

I shared with our Florida friends that Dad had died just a few days short of his 90th birthday. If a son believes he is going to live as long as his father, then sometime early last year I entered the second half of my life. There is no ceremony or tradition to mark this transition, yet life’s blessings can arrive in the most unexpected of ways.

The Community Foundation is about to launch an initiative about growing older in Door County. Hence, a colleague recently gave me a copy of a book by Richard Rohr titled Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. I told the crowd in Florida that while my friend and colleague could not have known of my personal milestone, the serendipity of this message gave me great pause.

The book’s basic premise is that the arc of a healthy life has two distinct phases. In the first half of our existence, we are building what Rohr calls our “container.” We spend our time trying to answer some of the most fundamental questions about ourselves. How can I support myself? Who will go with me? What makes me significant? During this first half of our life how we appear to ourselves and the world around us are almost the only questions we consider.

If we’ve managed to answer these fundamental questions well, as we grow older eventually we become restless and find that our old agenda is no longer sufficient. Few experience a light that shines from above, a sudden epiphany, or a spark of inspiration. Rather, we move forward naturally, and almost imperceptibility, turning from constructing the container that is our self to the task of deciding how we will fill it.

In the first half of our life, we define our identity by differentiating ourselves from those around us. In the second half of our existence, we look for the things we share in common. We find happiness in compatibility. We don’t dwell on differences or exaggerate problems. Creating unnecessary drama has become tedious and boring.

As I looked around the crowd at Preview Door County in Florida, I noted that I was surrounded by those who have been enormously successful in the first half of their lives. They have built containers that are robust and distinctive. Yet as I’ve gotten to know many a person in that room over recent years, I’ve seen firsthand how they now spend their time filling their containers with something deeper and more meaningful.

Rohr describes people like these as “human works of art.” These good souls aid and influence others not because of the titles they hold, or the power they wield, but rather simply by being who they are. He writes that in the second half of life, we know that we are all in this together and that we are equally naked underneath our clothes.

My father showed me how to live a generous life. He was more than a good man, he was my teacher. Although my teacher is gone now, his grace remains with me, and the clarity of his teachings is just beginning to take deeper root.

While I slowly enter this second half of my life, Rohr’s writings are helping me understand what my father meant. As we grow older, eventually we recognize that it’s good just to be a part of the dance. We don’t have to stand out, make flashy moves, or be better than anyone else on the dance floor. If you’ve answered those container questions about yourself when you were younger, you no longer feel the need to define or explain who you are. Life becomes more participatory than assertive.

I have so much more to learn about generosity, but I’m beginning to understand that this was what my father was trying to teach me.

Every year in Florida, and really all around Door County, I preach the same message to anyone who will listen. I remind you of how important it is that you give back to the charities of our community. I say how much all of you mean to Door County.

What I’m beginning to understand is how much Door County means to all of you. Charitable giving, at every level, allows us to be a part of a community. It gives us a chance to join with others who understand our dreams, feel our passion, and share our vision for how we want our community to be.

Being generous with others is our opportunity to be a part of the dance.

Bret Bicoy is president & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation. Contact him at bret@givedoorcounty.org.

This article originally appeared in the Peninsula Pulse.

Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeastern Wisconsin

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeastern Wisconsin a Sustainability Grant from the Children & Youth Fund.  This grant provides financial assistance to support One-to-One Youth Mentoring programs in Gibraltar, Washington Island and Sturgeon Bay.

Big Brothers Big Sisters programs match volunteer mentors with Door County youth.  The program is designed to support healthy behaviors and decision-making which leads to positive academic, socio-emotional and behavioral outcomes.  These positive outcomes lead to improved high school graduation rates, the avoidance of juvenile delinquency, readiness for post- secondary educational opportunities, and improved employment opportunities.

Pictured for left to right are John Herlache, board member of the Door County Community Foundation, Kristen Mihaljevic and Todd McPeek, of Big Borthers Big Sisters of Northeastern Wisconsin.

“The youth mentoring program is based on a successful model with proven results,” said John Herlache, board member of the Door County Community Foundation. “The evidence is well documented that these one-to-one relationships cultivate experiences for Door County youth that changes their lives for the better.”

Northeastern Wisconsin is a donor and volunteer supported nonprofit organization that professionally matches youth with mentors.  Since 1972, communities in Northeastern Wisconsin have been enriched by Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mission to make a positive difference in the lives of youth through professionally supported, one-to-one mentoring relationships.  The program is based on the documented premise that youth need the influence of mature, responsible and supportive mentors during their formative years in order to reach their full potential as adults.

For more information regarding the programs and services provided by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeastern Wisconsin, please call 920-498-2227 or visit www.bbbsnew.org.

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program

distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Education Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, Healthy Water Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County.  The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $16 million in charitable assets.

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Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to Lakeshore CAP

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded Lakeshore Community Action Program (CAP) a Sustainability Grant from the Martha Cherry Fund and the Health and Human Needs Fund.  This grant supports their Door County Cradle to Career program.

Cradle to Career coordinates collaborative and comprehensive services to Door County residents who are pregnant or parents under age 30 through a Coordinator/Case Manager. The coordinator links families with educational, career, parenting education, wellness and economic supports to build self-sufficiency.

“Currently, no Door County programs provide comprehensive and individualized coordination of case management for young parents and their families,” said Sally O’Brien, board member of the Door County Community Foundation. “The Door County Community Foundation is committed to supporting the young families of Door County through this grant to Lakeshore CAP.”

Door County Cradle to Career has a unique organization structure designed to capitalize on the combined expertise and passion of the representatives in the Steering and Administration Committees to build a new program for young families of Door County.

For more information about Lakeshore CAP, please visit www.LakeshoreCAP.org or call 920-743-0192. For more information about Door County Cradle to Career, please visit www.DoorCountyCradleToCareer.org

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Education Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Healthy Water Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County.  The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $16 million in charitable assets.

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Philanthropy Supporting Business

There’s a fascinating shift going on in modern philanthropy. Many of our nation’s most ingenious philanthropic institutions are broadening their focus. Rather than limiting themselves to awarding grants to nonprofit organizations, foundations are increasingly recognizing that the entrepreneurial spirit is an invaluable tool to achieve their goals for the community. As a result, these charitable philanthropies are making investments that use the for-profit motive in innovative ways.

Examples are popping up every day across the country. The Cleveland (community) Foundation has been at the forefront of creating “evergreen cooperatives.” Rather than offer a subsidy to induce a corporation to bring jobs into a community, this new model creates employment opportunities by investing in new local, employee-owned businesses. The Oregon Community Foundation has made “economic vitality” one of its strategic priorities. It’s making investments in developing workforce skills and providing entrepreneurial education.

The line between philanthropy and business is blurring even on our little peninsula. At the Door County Community Foundation, we’ve launched the Community Opportunity Investment Network (COIN). COIN fosters the creation of new jobs by making small business loans available to entrepreneurs that do not have access to traditional lending. In the last year in Door County, three new businesses were launched and one was able to expand as a direct result of COIN loans.

While much attention is being focused on how the world of philanthropy is intersecting with the for-profit sector, I was asked to comment as to why this is occurring. What’s driving our philanthropic institutions to use investments in for-profit businesses to realize their charitable goals?

The most obvious explanation is that an enormous number of social issues directly correlate to a family’s income. Life expectancy, obesity, crime, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, and numerous other problems all have a strong and demonstrated link to poverty. Of course, there are plenty of fat, rich alcoholics who beat their spouses, so these problems are most certainly not limited to the poor. Yet we would be ignoring reality if we didn’t heed the countless studies which demonstrate an overwhelming correlation — and very often a causal link — between poverty and these societal problems.

Thus, foundations have simply concluded that the most obvious solution to address a myriad of issues is to help lift families out of poverty.

Our challenge is that the problem of poverty, particularly among children, is getting worse. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2015 Kids Count Data Book reports that nearly 1 out of every 4 children in the United States lives in poverty. That number has grown by more than 20 percent during the last five years. Poverty among our nation’s children is reaching epidemic proportions.

Yet a statistic from the Philanthropy Roundtable’s Clearing Obstacles to Work by David Bass gets to the heart of why foundations are making investments in economic development. If every poor family in the U.S. had at least one person with a full-time job, 75 percent of today’s poor children would be lifted out of poverty.

Fostering the development of businesses that have the potential to grow and create new jobs is the most effective and lasting poverty eradication program there is.

However, there’s more to a job than just material gain. There are emotional and social benefits as well. “When they are separated from work, the poor lose more than just money for food, shelter and clothing,” writes Bass. “They suffer deficits of purpose, emotional well-being, and social connection. They get cut off from clearly defined goals and aspirations. They lose a prime means of generating and feeling respect from others. These things can’t be compensated for by government income transfers or charitable gifts. This itch must be scratched by devoting oneself to productive, fulfilling labor.”

If you talk with someone who recently got a job you know just how true that is. Certainly the newly employed want and expect to get paid, but it’s almost never the first thing that they say to you.

“When they find that new job, they just transform,” says Sandy Duckett, CEO of We Are HOPE, Inc. which houses the Door County Job Center. “You can see their self-confidence, their self-worth grow. They are reminded they have value.”

Like most Americans, I still have a strong belief in the value of hard work. Yet it is a mistake to conclude that foundations have wholeheartedly embraced the old adage that if you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime. While that sounds like sage wisdom, if you’ve ever worked with those living in poverty you know it’s not that simple.

Parents who are trying to figure out how they’re going to feed their children dinner tonight aren’t thinking of ways to improve their job skills. A man who is homeless doesn’t have an address to list on his résumé. The woman who is chronically ill has a hard time getting herself to a class at the technical college. A child who is the victim of abuse cannot concentrate on school work. If you try to teach a hungry man to fish, he’s going to eat the bait.

Thus we need to do both things. Foundations should invest in efforts which lift people out of poverty through workforce education and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit, but we also must support those charities that provide for our community’s basic human needs. Let’s give the hungry man a meal, then we’ll teach him how to fish.

Bret Bicoy is president & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation. Contact him at the Community Foundation.

(This column originally appeared in Door County Living.)

Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to Crossroads at Big Creek

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded Crossroads at Big Creek a Sustainability Grant from the Green Fund.  This grant supports the addition of a rooftop photovoltaic array, bringing the organization closer to becoming 50% carbon neutral.

One mission of Crossroads at Big Creek is to promote environmental stewardship through education.  This photovoltaic array project provides a valuable, hands-on learning experience for energy professionals, teachers,  Door County residents, and seasonal visitors alike.

The benefits of this installation have been many.  This project demonstrates that it is economically feasible, even in our northern climate, to produce energy with solar photovoltaic panels.  For example, electric bills at Crossroads have been reduced, enabling the organization to now redirect those dollars towards educational programming.  In addition, the excess energy produced by the array is fed into the grid, decreasing the fossil fuel consumption for Sturgeon Bay Utilities.

“The Door County Community Foundation is pleased to support Crossroads at Big Creek as it continues to provide important leadership in promoting environmental stewardship within our community.  The photovoltaic array project is one example of many Crossroads initiatives that shows us the viability of employing sustainable best practices,” said Bret Bicoy, President and CEO of the Door County Community Foundation.

Picture from the left: Coggin Heeringa, Director of Crossroads at Big Creek, and Bret Bicoy, President and CEO of the Door County Community Foundation.  (A full-sized image file is attached to the original email used to send you this press release)

Crossroads at Big Creek is a beautiful 125-acre preserve that provides opportunities for experiential, life-long learning.  A visit to Crossroads nurtures historical and cultural appreciation, scientific curiosity, and environmental awareness.

To learn more about Crossroads at Big Creek, please call 920-746-5895 or visit, http://www.crossroadsatbigcreek.com/

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Education Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Healthy Water Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County.  The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers nearly $16 million in charitable assets.

Traven Family Fund Makes Annual Distributions to Door County Charities

The Door County Community Foundation announced today that the remarkable gift of the late Lee Traven continues to do wonderful things for Door County.

The Traven Family Fund is a permanent endowment that Lee established at the Community Foundation to forever benefit the charities he cared about the most. For the third year in a row, the Traven Family Fund will make significant donations to benefit the following organizations that he loved:

• The Ridges Sanctuary
• Peninsula Music Festival
• Good Samaritan Society – Scandia Village
• The Clearing
• Ministry Door County Medical Center Foundation
• Lawrence University – Bjorklunden
• Wisconsin Public Radio
• The Sustainability & Advancement Grants Program of the Door County Community Foundation

“While some of our donors prefer to remain anonymous, Lee created the Traven Family Fund so that his family’s legacy will live on forever,” says Bret Bicoy, President & CEO of the Community Foundation. “We celebrate and honor Lee every year as a way to thank him for making this incredible gift to Door County.”

Olivia Traven, Lee’s mother, regularly visited her grandmother in Baileys Harbor and eventually made it her lifelong home. Always active in civic life, Olivia would become one of the co-founders of the Ridges Sanctuary.

Fred Traven, Lee’s father, was active as a Boy Scout leader for nearly three decades and served as president of the Ridges Sanctuary.

Lee Traven grew up in Baileys Harbor. He served in the United States Air Force in Texas, California and Japan. He lived and worked in Manhattan for
thirty years, and traveled throughout the world. But his heart always called him back to his home of Door County.

After retiring, Traven returned to Door County and began a new career as one of the community’s most engaged citizens. He served on the Boards of the Ministry Door County Medical Center Foundation, The Ridges Sanctuary, The Clearing, Peninsula Music Festival, and Scandia Village.

As a result of his inspiring community leadership, Traven was named the 2010 Philanthropist of the Year by the Door County Community Foundation. He passed away on April 22, 2013.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County. The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers nearly $16 million in charitable assets.

For more information about the Door County Community Foundation, contact Bret Bicoy at (920) 746-1786 or visit www.givedoorcounty.org.