Making Spirits Bright Board Supports Sheboygan County Food Bank with Special Donation
SHEBOYGAN, WI—May 2, 2024 — The Making Spirits Bright board of directors presented a $50,000 check to Sheboygan County Food (SCFB) in support of the purchase of a food collection transport truck. During the annual Making Spirits Bright drive-through holiday lights show, SCFB is the partner organization and recipient of the food pantry donations collected. The SCFB trucks have moved over 1.1 million pounds of food over the event’s 12-year run. The special $50,000 donation, made possible by the generosity of the just over 73,000 visitors to the Making Spirits Bright event, will go towards the purchase of a truck that will replace the one currently used, which needs many expensive repairs and is not reliable.
The check presentation occurred during the Sheboygan Rotary’s Good Citizen of the Year dinner. Liz Kroll, founder of SCFB, was this year’s Good Citizen award recipient. Dave Hoffman, Making Spirit’s Bright steering committee chair, presented the check. Hoffman is a fellow Rotarian and became the Making Spirits Bright event chair starting in 2024. Also on hand was Mike Vandersteen, chair of the board of directors for Making Spirits Bright. This check brings the total Making Spirits Bright donations to SCFB to $205,000.
Sheboygan County Food Bank's latest data reveals that inflation and the cutbacks in government benefits are continuing to make it tough for families to put food on the table. SCFB serves an average of over 6,400 families each month through food pantries and their other partner organizations. This equates to the same number of local neighbors served during the height of the 2020 pandemic. To make a donation to SCFB, dedicated to the major truck purchase or for ongoing support, visit www.sheboygancountyfoodbank.com
Making Spirits Bright is a drive-through holiday lights show choreographed to music in Evergreen Park, Sheboygan. Originally conceived and presented by the three Rotary Clubs of Sheboygan County, the event has grown to encompass volunteers from throughout the area. The focus continues to be the collection of food pantry item donations for the Sheboygan County Food Bank. Annually the event runs the night after Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve (closed Christmas Eve). In addition to the lights show, across the street Quarryview Center offers visits with Santa, concessions, wreath raffles, and trolley rides. For more information, visit www.MakingSpiritsBright.com
Sheboygan County Food Bank (SCFB) distributes culturally-relevant and nutritious food to partner organizations and through its core programs – Food for Thought for Kids, Community Cafe, Food+ for Neighbors, and Sheboygan Cares Food Pantry – to ensure that no one in Sheboygan County goes hungry. In 2023, SCFB distributed 1.1 million pounds of food to support over 5,300 families each month. To learn more and donate, visit www.sheboygancountyfoodbank.com.