Introduction to the Foundation

We live in a unique and wonderful area. We've got it all. Beautiful scenery, friendly people, great schools and exceptional human services. Good health is vital to sustaining our way of life.

When you contribute to Sauk Prairie Healthcare Foundation, you're making an investment in our future. The community through the Foundation helped build Sauk Prairie Healthcare's state-of-the-art hospital, which opened in 2014.

Many people are surprised to learn that the Foundation not only supports the local hospital and healthcare system, it also supports healthy programs in the community. Sauk Prairie Healthcare is independent. We're not affiliated with a larger corporation based somewhere else. That gives us flexibility to make decisions locally.

The Foundation is committed to supporting the local community and the hospital and clinics. The Foundation supports community projects like the Wisconsin Heights Community Garden in Mazomanie. There residents grow their own healthy food. The garden also provides more than 1000 pounds of fresh, healthy food for the local food bank. The Foundation truly believes that funding these types of programs keeps people healthy and adds to the quality of life we enjoy here.

One project that Foundation supported was Heart Zones, fitness technology software that helps kids understand their hearts and how hard they're working. The Foundation purchased monitors to cover all of the students in Sauk Prairie, Lodi, River Valley and Wisconsin Heights school districts. We here at River Valley feel extremely lucky to have Heart Zones state-of-the-art technology that is helping our kids as well as us as teachers.

The Foundation also sponsors community education programs designed to help young people learn about healthy lifestyles, including this class at Culver's headquarters, where participants learn how to make healthy smoothies. I had the opportunity to bring in young middle schoolers here to the Culver's kitchen. So it allowed us to do a smoothie demonstration for these young individuals and kind of get them some exposure to eating healthier. And what we did is had these individuals come in and actually assist in making smoothies and learn how to incorporate good nutrition into the smoothies, and then hopefully go home and share that information with their families.

Naturally, the Foundation also supports the hospital and Sauk Prairie Healthcare in several ways. The Foundation supports your local health care team by providing scholarships to nurses and other professionals to enhance their skills.

Without the scholarship funds, I believe that I would still have worked to become a nurse. But I don't think that I would be as motivated to continue on with my master's degree. I know that no matter what this knowledge is helping me improve care for my patients, and that's my main goal. Our employees can also request funding from the Foundation for equipment that might be outside of the regular budget. All of this goes to provide the best possible care for our patients in the greater Sauk Prairie area.

For example, our Birth Center team requested funds for a specialized infant mannequin so that they could practice CPR in case they ever needed to revive a newborn. That day came on Christmas morning, 2018 when baby Zander was born without any vital signs. Zander came out not breathing limp, and I think I will forever see that image in my mind. But our staff acted quickly and we were able to do the necessary things to help revive him. So I understand that they had a infant mannequin that was purchased with Foundation funds and that they were able to practice CPR on that infant mannequin. So I think that definitely helped the nursing staff and the doctors to react quickly and feel confident in reacting in the way that they did. We were able to practice be prepared and save Zander's life on that Christmas morning.

We have become a destination, not only for our excellent health care, but also for our talented team and our beautiful surroundings. Lodi farmer Lloyd Kippley has had experiences with other hospitals, but he prefers the pace here. The Sauk Prairie Healthcare nurses and doctors are more on a relaxed basis. They make their rounds, but when they're caught up, they'll come in and say, how are you feeling? Is there anything we can get you? It's just that extra notch that makes a difference. I was just very, very impressed period.

Our mission is fueled by the generosity of our donors, including our own employees. They believe in our mission so much that they give back through the Foundation. An employee wearing this hero badge signifies a team member who has made a gift, our highly respected medical staff also give to the Foundation in many ways.

Some of our gifts come from grateful patients like Lloyd. And when they told me I could go home, I call Edi and I said, Edi, bring the checkbook. I want to make a donation to the Foundation, a place that's convenient and nice. I just want to be a part of it.

We also raised funds through special events, including a spring event at Vintage Brewing Company. And an annual golf outing.

Sauk Prairie Healthcare Foundation is an important ingredient to the quality of life that we enjoy here. Please help us secure a healthy future for your community and for all of the people in your life.

Thank you for your gift. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for your gifts to the Foundation. I want to thank all the donors that helped support the Sauk Prairie Healthcare Foundation and giving us the support to do what we do here at Sauk Prairie Healthcare.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your donations to buy us Heart Zones.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the Foundation. Without you guys, we wouldn't have him.

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