What Charity Means to Door County

Charity is more important to Door County than to any other community in Wisconsin.

That’s a bold statement, but if you ponder a bit you’ll see just how truthful it really is. The charities of Door County define much of our quality of life and are a major part of the engine that drives our local economy.

Think for a moment about what you love most about Door County.

You might love that our vibrant arts community surrounds us with beauty and fills our lives with music. We are blessed to have an abundance of live theatre – from the musicals of the American Folklore Theatre, to the grand stage of the Peninsula Players, to the community productions of the Isadoora Theatre Company. Midsummer’s Music and the Peninsula Music Festival are the soundtrack for our summer. Young people from across the nation come to learn at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center and perform for us.

The Door Community Auditorium offers us a venue that is state-of-the-art while the Third Avenue Playhouse hosts us with a traditional flair. For those who seek to nurture the artist within, the Peninsula Arts School and The Clearing Folk School are great centers of arts and education. The Door County Historical Society and Sister Bay Historical Society celebrate our history and culture.

All of these treasures of the arts that are so essential to the uniqueness of Door County are charities. They bring visitors here and keep them coming back each year.

Perhaps what you love most about Door County is our incredible abundance of natural resources. The Door County Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy are working hard to preserve and protect environmentally important places. The Ridges Sanctuary is one of the most biologically diverse places in Wisconsin. Crossroads at Big Creek offers environmental education for the whole family.

Our magnificent parks are maintained and enhanced by vibrant citizens groups – from the Friends of Peninsula State Park, to the Friends of Toft Point, to the Friends of Potawatomi State Park. The Sail Training Foundation and Ephraim Yacht Club are working to ensure both this generation of boaters, and the next, are well equipped to enjoy our waters safely.

The stewards and guardians of our environmental treasures in Door County are charities. They protect and champion those natural resources which entice visitors to come to Door County.

Perhaps you love Door County because it’s a wonderful place to “retire,” if your idea of retiring is to get involved. There are over 325 charities and civic groups operating in Door County whose boards of directors are comprised of people with a lifetime of experience. Whether you’ve lived here all your life, or decided to move to Door County, civic engagement is a hallmark of “retiring” in Door County.

These non-profit organizations are not only enriching our community, they are also driving our economy. Our local charities create the quality of life that draw people to visit or live in Door County. People come to Door County for the arts or the outdoors, but the dollars they spend permeate throughout the community.

Our greatest arts and cultural treasures are charities. Our environmental abundance is stewarded and protected by charities. Our quality of life is inextricably intertwined with the charities of Door County.

That’s why when you ponder it for a bit, it’s easy to understand why charity is more important to Door County than any other community in Wisconsin.

A gift to charity in Door County is not only a contribution, it’s also an investment in our economic development. It’s helping to build a better future for us all.

But charity is more than just an economic development tool.

We have our challenges as a community. Our seasonal nature leads to seasonal jobs and that creates stresses for those at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. So we count on groups like Lakeshore CAP to fill a family’s cabinet with groceries during the winter months when the summer’s wages are finally gone.

The Community Clinic provides care for those whose jobs don’t offer health insurance. The Women’s Employment Project offers job training and placement opportunities when a job cannot be found. When economic stresses degrade into domestic violence, HELP of Door County is there to provide a safe place. And the list could go on and on.

What all these organizations have in common is that they are charities. They are non-profits because there is no profit to be made. So their future is dependent on the generosity of people like you.

And because charity is so important to Door County, our community’s future is also dependent on the generosity of people like you.

Bret Bicoy is President & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation. In 2008, he and his wife Cari returned to Wisconsin to raise their children six children in the community they love. Contact him at [email protected].