Fort Atkinson Community Foundation

06/02/2026

Our foundation's Board of Directors recently approved a $250,000 community grant, as a match to an investment made by the City of Fort Atkinson, WI-Government, to support the launch of Habitat for Humanity Waukesha - Jefferson - Rock Critical Home Repair Program.

The program is designed to help Fort Atkinson families complete essential repairs that improve quality of life and preserve housing throughout the community. It will focus on critical repairs and replacement projects for homeowners who may otherwise struggle to afford major home maintenance needs. The program is designed as a shared investment model, where homeowners repay an affordable portion of the project cost over time, while a portion of the funding may be forgiven to help keep repairs accessible for local families.

Our foundation's investment will be supported through our incredible Mary C. Hoard Field of Interest Fund.

Please click below to read the full press release. Any questions about the program can be directed to the Habitat for Humanity team!

New partnership with the City of Fort Atkinson and Fort Atkinson Community Foundation creates $500,000 investment in local homeownersFORT ATKINSON, Wis. — Habitat for Humanity Waukesha - Jefferson - Rock, in partnership with the City of Fort Atkinson and the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, is ...

06/01/2026

Congratulations to ALL of the incredible student artists who were featured as part of the 35th Annual Ernie Pope Art Show!

And a special congratulations to all of the winners announced at celebrated at last week's reception. You should all be so proud of your talent and achievement.

Our foundation is honored to provide cash prizes for the winners from our Ernie Pope Memorial Art Fund. We are also honored that each year, members of Ernie Pope's family travel from out of state to attend the reception in honor of their father's legacy of supporting local artists in our community!

Thank you to the other sponsors involved in supporting this beautiful show - FCCU, IronMarkets, Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce, The Fireside Theatre, and Fort HealthCare.

And lastly, please join us in sharing appreciation for all of the School District of Fort Atkinson & St. Joseph Catholic School art teachers for the time, effort and energy they put into not only this show, but all they do to instill a love of art in their students all year long.

Thank you Angie Szabo, Ashlyn Minks, Randi Niemeyer, Tess Seichter, Courtney Czech, Eliza Bochat and Sally Koehler! Your guidance, support and instruction is evident in the incredible creations of these talented students!

05/27/2026

It's hard to believe it's already been a week since the wonderful, celebratory 2026 FAHS Scholarship Banquet!

As we mentioned last week, there are SO many people who play a critical role in the success of the banquet and the scholarship process overall. Today, we'd like to highlight two people at the very top of that list!

One of the very unique and special elements of our community's incredible scholarship program, is the strong partnership between our foundation and the School District of Fort Atkinson, specifically Laurie Gilson (pictured far left) and Samantha Ahler (pictured far right). Serving as an Administrative Assistant and School Counselor in the FAHS Pupil Services Department, these two facilitate/manage dozens of scholarships, oversee information for all of the senior applicants, and coordinate so many details of the banquet.

This partnership allows for collaboration on the application site (making it VERY easy for students), recipient lists, review materials, and so much more.

Thank you, Laurie & Samantha. Your patience, collaborative spirit, and positive communication are so greatly appreciated. Our foundation is honored to partner with you both and our district!

05/26/2026

We hope to see a great turnout from our community at tomorrow night's 35th Annual Ernie Pope Art Show Reception!

Wednesday, May 27th - 5:30pm - FAHS Performing Arts Center

Our foundation is honored to provide the funding for the cash prizes for the show's winners from our Ernie Pope Memorial Art Fund.

We look forward to celebrating dozens of incredible student artists tomorrow night!

05/22/2026

On Wednesday night, our foundation had the incredible honor of joining the Fort Atkinson High School team for the 2026 Scholarship Banquet.

Over $600,000 was awarded to these incredible students, and our foundation is so proud to be providing $285,450 of that to 47 different recipients.

We look forward to sharing specific thank you's and acknowledgements next week, but for today we'd simply like to say THANK YOU to everyone involved and to share some of the wonderful photos captured by Ryan Ebert.

From our foundation staff, board of directors, review committee members, fundholders, donors, presenters, the team at the School District of Fort Atkinson, and all other local scholarship funds... it takes a lot to make this night happen.

And at the core of what it takes, are people with collaborative spirits, giving hearts, and a desire to support their community.

How lucky are we, Fort Atkinson?!

05/20/2026

Yesterday, our team joined School District of Fort Atkinson representatives for the official big check presentation to highlight our foundation's $45,000 community grant support.

The new van has already been put to great and consistent use - allowing for expansion of the Crossroads students' learning environments and increased immersion into many areas of our community.

The grant was supported through our General Fund and the generosity of the Negus Family Donor-Advised Fund.

Pictured (from left to right): Robert Cassiday (FACF board member), Megan Hartwick (FACF Executive Director), Jenna Zangl (FAHS Social Worker), Matt Noll (Crossroads Lead Teacher), Fred & Janet Negus (FACF fundholders), Lisa Hollenberger (SDFA Director of Pupil Services), and Rob Abbott (SDFA Superintendent).

05/19/2026

Tomorrow night, our foundation will have the incredible honor of presenting a total of $285,450 in scholarship awards to 47 seniors at the Fort Atkinson High School during the 2026 Scholarship Banquet for the School District of Fort Atkinson.

Stay tuned for photos from the evening, details about our recipients and funds, and final numbers on our undergraduate & graduate scholarship awards.

As a little sneak peek... our total scholarship support for the year is over $450,000! :)

05/18/2026

We're so excited to highlight the professional success of another one of our foundation's board members!

Lisa Caras, Marketing Director at Jones Dairy Farm, was recently honored by In Business Madison as a Top 40 under 40, a recognition that features emerging business leaders shaping the Capital Region.

Lisa began her foundation board term in January 2021 and is now serving in her sixth year as our past chairman. Our organization has benefitted greatly from Lisa's insight, marketing expertise, and passion for community engagement.

Please help us congratulate Lisa on this wonderful recognition!

The 2026 40 Under 40 class is here!

Meet this year’s standout group of emerging leaders shaping the Capital Region. Meet some of this year’s honorees:
• Ian Andrews, Vice-President, Labor Relations and Large Contractors, National Electrical Contractors Association - NECA
• Jazmynn Appleton, Chief Director of Entrepreneurial Growth & Innovation, Public Speaker, Certified Life Coach and Author, Progress Center for Black Women
• Anastasia Callaghan, Shareholder + Project Manager, Potter Lawson, Inc.
• Jennifer Campbell, Chief Legal Officer, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
• Lisa Caras, Marketing Director, Jones Dairy Farm
• Erika Cleaver, Senior Project Manager, Tri-North Builders, Inc.
• Laura Cullen, Director of Talent Development, JP Cullen
• Carli Freidel, Vice President, Resource Development, United Way of Dane County
• Adam Griep, Senior Project Manager, Vogel Bros. Building Co.

Head to our website to see the full class.

Join us on May 13 at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Centere to celebrate. Tickets are now available.

The 2026 In Business Madison 40 Under 40 event is supported by our partners Borakove Osman LLC , JP Cullen and Summit Credit Union .

05/13/2026

In more community grant news, we are honored to announced our foundation's continued support of the Jefferson County Financial Empowerment Center (FEC).

Our Board of Directors recently approved a $10,000 grant to the Community Action Coalition For South Central Wisconsin, Inc. for program promotion and ongoing training for FEC financial counselors. This grant will be supported through our General Fund.

Meghan Mietchen, Executive Director of CAC noted "I want to extend our sincerest gratitude for the continued support from the Fort Foundation. This partnership makes a meaningful difference in our ability to serve the community, and we are truly thankful."

She also generously shared an inspiring story of the FEC impact in our city:

"Since opening, the Jefferson County FEC has helped clients strengthen their financial stability and build brighter futures. One Fort Atkinson resident, who faced unemployment while raising his daughter as a single parent, worked hard to regain financial footing. Today, he has secured employment and is following a financial plan developed with his counselor that allows him to meet his monthly expenses and begin building savings for his family’s future."

Thank you to CAC and Jefferson County, Wisconsin for supporting this program!