Ken Vance Motors is making a big difference in the Chippewa Valley using a Fund it established at the Eau Claire Community Foundation. It’s distributing $50,000 in grants to ten Wisconsin nonprofits. The grantees are:

• Catholic Charities Sojourner House
• Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
• Chippewa Youth Hockey Association
• Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association
• Eau Claire Community Foundation
• Eau Claire County Humane Association
• Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley
• Junior Achievement of Wisconsin North and West Central Region
• Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan
• WATDA Foundation

These grants will help recipients do everything from purchasing necessary equipment to hiring new staff members. “Thanks to Ken Vance Motors, we are able to purchase a more energy efficient freezer for our shelter and allocate funds to assist with maintenance of our truck,” said Amy Giani, Executive Director of Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley, which runs the Beacon House shelter for families experiencing homelessness.

“This investment will help us impact 400 students with lessons on topics that include budgeting, preparing for a future career, and building students’ soft skills,” said Susan Peterson, Area Director of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin North & West Central Region. “An investor like Ken Vance Motors sees the value in teaching students about the free enterprise system, as this family business was built on the entrepreneurial spirit, a strong pillar of Junior Achievement.”

“The Chippewa Valley Free Clinic just became a little more efficient!" said Maribeth Woodford, Executive Director of the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic. "Thanks to the generosity of Ken Vance Motors, the Free Clinic was able to purchase its own mobile ultrasound equipment. This wireless light weight tool will provide faster, more accurate results for our patients without the need to send them unnecessarily to a specialist or borrow equipment. A goal of ours is to find a way to treat patients sooner, rather than when they have more severe symptoms. Having an ultrasound machine in the clinic will certainly help.”

Ken Vance Motors is proud to help these nonprofits provide so many valuable services.