Nominate Now! Honoring Community Members as National Philanthropy Day Nears

With National Philanthropy Day 2023 on the horizon (November 9 at Overture Center) we wanted to continue to honor recent award winners and offer a friendly reminder that nominations for this year are due by Monday, Aug. 28th.

National Philanthropy Day 2023 
When: Thurs., Nov. 9th at Overture Center in Madison (11:30 am–1:30 pm)
Nominations due: Monday, Aug. 28th
Purpose: Honor people and organizations whose philanthropic efforts make our community a wonderful place to live.
Full list of 2022 honorees here

Highlighting past winners

Outstanding Grassroots Fundraiser (2022) 
ReMitts, Nominated by: Ann Nelson

ReMitts was created in 2009 with a single focus: Raise money to help people in the Madison area have access to healthy food. Janet Tupy founded the project of making mittens out of cast-off sweaters, then selling the mittens and donating 100% of the proceeds to local food pantries. She raised $4,000 in 2009 and in 2021 raised $105,000 thanks to nearly 3,000 mittens sold! Her project has grown to 25 volunteers and nearly 30 small businesses selling her ReMitts mittens. 

Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award (2021) 
Eliza Gepner, Nominated by: Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM)

She may be only 14, but Eliza Gepner is already making a difference in our community. MOM nominated Eliza for the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy award… and were thrilled when she won! Eliza was recognized along with other philanthropists in our community at the Overture Center. 

Eliza uses her artistic talent to raise awareness and funds for local non-profit organizations through her Zentangle stickers. She has raised over $2,500 for more than a dozen local non-profits. She selects a specific non-profit organization for each sticker she designs and uses sales of their stickers to raise money for that non-profit. For example, Eliza created a map of Wisconsin sticker for MOM. Eliza donates the profit of sales from the Wisconsin sticker to MOM. You can purchase a sticker of your own at her website: www.elizamakesart.com