Coins for Community grants $15,000 to local charities

You helped US help YOU! The simple concept of Coins for Community spread a wide web of support for local charities through the World Wide Web.

You clicked, you dragged, you learned.

We shared, we counted, we granted thousands.

Win … win … win!

The Oshkosh Area Community Foundation's interactive game has reached its end, for now. We're tweaking it and hoping to bring it back in the near future. (In fact, if you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear it. E-mail Joy@OshkoshAreaCF.org.)

The game was launched March 1, 2010, in an effort to drive hits to the Community Foundation’s website after it was redesigned.

The interactive game allowed web users to virtually drag and drop coins into two piggy banks representing two groups with endowment or special project funds at the Community Foundation. Each game lasted one month. The group's piggy bank with the most coins at the end of the month received a $1,000 grant from the Community Foundation.

Since its launch, the game attracted nearly 3 million page views and more than 95,000 unique hits. The Community Foundation granted $15,000 to local charities before Coins for Community took a hiatus July 1, 2011.

"We're really proud of what this game has done to rally support for community groups," said Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. "The game has been very successful — but we think it can be better. Taking a break will allow us time to retool it and then draw more attention to the upcoming release of the Southern Winnebago County LIFE Study and the new Vital Signs feature on our website."

The Southern Winnebago County LIFE Study is measuring quality of life issues in an effort to direct attention to unmet needs on a local and regional scale in collaboration with the Brown County LIFE Study and Fox Cities LIFE Study. The study will be released in Oshkosh on Sept. 9, 2011. The Community Foundation will tie the LIFE Study closely to Vital Signs, which provides a snapshot of 10 key indicators of economic well-being in the Oshkosh area. The data can be accessed on the Community Foundation's website at www.oshkoshareacf.org/vital.cfm.

Coins for Community has awarded $1,000 grants to funds for:
Oshkosh Area Humane Society;
Grand Opera House;
Cerebral Palsy of Mideast Wisconsin;
Oshkosh Area United Way;
Oshkosh Area Community Pantry;
Meals on Wheels;
Winnebago County Literacy Council;
Reach Counseling Services;
Dartford Historical Society;
Oshkosh Public Library;
Saint Vincent De Paul Society Oshkosh;
Oshkosh High School Hockey Booster Club;
Habitat for Humanity;
Oshkosh FIRST Robotics;
and LUCAS Heart Fund (of the Altrusa Club of Oshkosh).

Other funds that have been featured include:
Ladies Benevolent Society: Advocates Older Adults;
Emmeline Cook Campaign for Learning Technology;
Tri-County Community Dental Clinic;
Oshkosh Youth Soccer Club;
Friends of the Oshkosh Seniors Center;
Oshkosh Public Museum;
Diverse Options Inc.;
Winnebago County Crime Prevention Fund;
Arc — Winnebago County Disability Association;
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E);
Clarity Care, Inc.;
Oshkosh Community YMCA;
Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services;
Paine Art Center and Gardens;
and Oshkosh Boys & Girls Club.

The Oshkosh Area Community Foundation is a nonprofit charitable organization created by and for the people of Winnebago County, Waushara County, Green Lake County and Ripon. Through charitable giving, the Community Foundation strives to make our communities thrive. For more information, please call 920-426-3993.