Modern Woodmen Financial Fulfills Wish List for the Willard Preschool Program
Kari Rose surprised the preschool teachers by handing them a Lakeshore Learning catalog and telling them that they could make a wish list of anything they wanted. She told them that the funding was coming from Modern Woodmen Fraternal Financial. Kari works for Modern Woodmen and wears many hats for the organization. Modern Woodmen is a local not for profit financial planning organization. Their mission is to improve the quality of life for their members by supporting: quality family life, community impact, and financial security. Yes, financial planning is what they do but giving back to the community is where their hearts are! Last year alone Kari’s region in Nebraska gave back just shy of $800,000.00 to the community in several forms. This year they are shooting for One Million.
Kari brings her son, Collin, to Willard’s full time preschool every day and wanted to be able to provide new educational experiences and manipulatives for the children. She asked one of the Woodmen chapters and one Woodmen youth group if they would donate. They generously agreed. Kari and her fiancé’, Brad Velder, drove to Omaha and purchased a water table, book shelf, pillow sit up-ons, and a great variety of items for the preschool children. The new items have brought so much joy and excitement to the children. In total Modern Woodmen donated over $860.00 to complete the Willard wish list.
“Basically, we have 50 chapters and 13 Youth clubs throughout the state; I run 7 of those chapters and 1 Youth club on the side from working for the company. Each club and chapter holds anywhere from 50-500 of our members (depends on demographic location). The members, along with the Activities Coordinator, determine how their chapter funds will be used. Since Willard is where my children go, I thought of you guys as helping schools and educational facilities is a favorite with the members:). Each chapter and club has $1,000 to use in the community, $2,500.00 in matching funds, $100 to recognize a Hero in their community (that hero gets to donate a check of $100 to a cause of their choice), and so much more. We also have FREE educational materials that private schools, daycares, educational facilities, YMCA's, and youth clubs order for their kids. These materials are certified materials and are simply offered because we chose education as our FREE gift to the communities. Our company is nationwide, our office just represents Nebraska's community. As a company in 2016 we gave over 21 million dollars back to local communities and hope to of course beat that number every year. A lot of what our company does and why it exists is hard for people to believe or wrap their head around.” Kari passionately explained.
Thank you, Kari and Modern Woodmen, for making a positive impact on the education of the preschool children at the Willard Community Center. We are so thankful for your generosity.