WAUPUN — The Waupun Truck-n-Show donated the fundraiser money to this year’s beneficiaries, REACH Waupun, the Waupun Animal Shelter, and a family through the Make-a-Wish program.
The beneficiaries were announced together last June, along with this year’s parade marshal.
The Truck-n-Show donated a total of $4,725 to REACH Waupun, and the same amount to the Waupun Area Animal Shelter.
Nancy Kutschenreuter and Ryan Lentz, two directors of the Waupun Truck-n-Show, personally delivered the checks to REACH Waupun and the Waupun Animal Shelter.
REACH is a nonprofit youth outreach program dedicated to giving children steady mentors to look up to.
“I’m so appreciative of the Waupun Truck-n-Show again this year,” said Jayne Harmsen, who runs the REACH program in Waupun. “They have been a supporter for REACH Waupun and it’s hard for me to express how grateful we are for them to keep thinking of us and how important this program is to the Waupun community.”
The REACH program will eventually move into the new Senior/Community Center that’s scheduled to start construction next month. The City Council last discussed the project in June but has not given a specific date for groundbreaking.
“Our costs are going to be a lot more, but we will have a lot more things to offer in the new building; we’ll have access to a full-size gym, we’ll have access to a full kitchen and more,” Harmsen said. “Our program has been growing and growing with a lot more kids being involved and with a lot more kids comes a lot more expense.”
After meeting with REACH, the Truck-n-Show directors met with the Waupun Area Animal Shelter and got to see the animals being cared for and soon adopted out.
“I just want to say how grateful we are for the donation and the opportunity to work with this year’s Truck-n-Show,” said Cindy Amacher, one of the managers of the Waupun Animal Shelter. “This donation we’ve been given will definitely help our shelter—we have cats and kittens and dogs that need to be taken care of, medication that needs to be bought, we have mamas in foster with babies—so every penny that we have been given by the Truck-n-Show will go towards the shelter.”
“None of us are paid, we all do this out of the kindness of our hearts, so thank you very much,” Amacher added.
The Truck-n-Show Committee is a nonprofit organization dedicated to putting together the annual truck festival, with fundraisers such as these to benefit the community in any way possible.
“The Waupun Truck-n-Show helps its community, that’s what its purpose is,” Truck-n-Show Committee vice president Nancy Kutschenreuter said. “And this year we helped the REACH Program and the Waupun Area Animal Shelter, and it was an honor working with both of them.”
“I’m glad to see it go to the community, it’s a good benefit to everybody,” Ryan Lentz said.
The Truck-n-Show also donated $12,000 to the Make-a-Wish family of Myles Brandt.
REACH Waupun, the Waupun Area Animal Shelter, and Make-a-Wish are recurring beneficiaries of the Waupun Truck-n-Show.
