Door County Emergency Response Fund

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (February 1, 2021) – In an effort to provide a coordinated philanthropic response to the current COVID-19 health crisis, the Door County Community Foundation and the United Way of Door County have activated the Door County Emergency Response Fund and launched other response efforts (such as www.FeedDoorCounty.org and www.RentReliefDoorCounty.org).   

The Community Foundation has made the initial contribution of $15,000 to the Emergency Response Fund.  Please consider joining us and make an online donation to help the people of Door County.

Overcoming the extraordinary challenges of today – and the months ahead – will require an extraordinary effort by the people of Door County.  Because we’re asking you to have faith in us, our commitment is to be fully transparent on how every dollar contributed to the Emergency Response Fund is used.  We’ll regularly update totals of the moneys raised to date along with a complete accounting of how those moneys are being used to help the people of Door County.  We’ll publish information on this website, periodically send out email updates (subscribe here), and make community wide announcements from time to time.

While we will be completely open as to how we’re using your contributions, we do have a request of you.  We ask for your patience and understanding as we work through the challenges we’ll face in months ahead.  Almost inevitably, the size of the problem will be larger than the moneys we have available to address it.  Difficult choices will need to be made as to which organization or coalition is a higher priority at any given time. 

Further, as significant as the problem is today, it will grow considerably as the crisis begins to impact our season and people remain out of work for longer periods of time.  That means we’ll need to spread the distribution of the money you’ve contributed over many months.  Regardless, you have our commitment to distributing every dollar you’ve donated to the Emergency Response Fund to help people who live right here in Door County.

Finally, since we’re being completely honest, we’ll almost certainly be asking you to give again.  We’re facing some rough waters ahead, and we won’t make it if we try to sail alone.  We may have to stay apart for a while, but we’ll get through this if we come together as a community.

DONATE TODAY

To give online with a credit card, click here.

To give by check, mail your contribution to:
Door County Emergency Response Fund
Door County Community Foundation, Inc.
222 N. 3rd Avenue
Sturgeon Bay, WI  54235

To give stock or other assets, please call the Community Foundation at (920) 746-1786 or send us an email.

To make a contribution from your Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation, please call us at (920) 746-1786 or send us an email.

SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE

The Emergency Response Fund is accepting applications from 501(c)(3) public charities, faith-based organizations, and other public entities serving the people of Door County.  

Individual people who need help during this crisis should visit www.Get211.org or dial 211.  
For-profit businesses that need financial assistance should contact DCEDC.

501(c)(3) public charities, faith-based organizations, and other public entities that serve the people of Door County are eligible to apply to the Emergency Response Fund.

While the dynamic nature of this crisis may cause the Emergency Response Fund to shift its emphasis over time, the following are the current priorities of the Fund:

1. Our first priority is to provide support for organizations offering immediate relief and assistance to people who are struggling during the stay-at-home order.

2. Our second priority is to provide support for organizations helping people in the months ahead who continue to struggle as Door County’s dramatically shortened season and the national recession threaten their family’s economic security.

3. Our third priority will be to provide support for the non-profit organizations themselves, whose long-term viability is threatened by the economic crisis in Door County.  Note that we do not anticipate allocating significant resources to this third priority until the first two priorities have been adequately addressed.  

Requests must be submitted online.  APPLY NOW

This application is designed to be completed at one sitting and cannot be saved incomplete. You may download this PDF version of the application to review the questions prior to submitting your request, but you still must visit the link above and apply online.

Requests will be reviewed on a weekly basis.  Submissions received by Monday at 8 a.m. will typically receive a decision by Wednesday evening.  Once a distribution is approved, you may request a check at any time.  Checks are typically mailed within 10 days.

Please only submit one request at a time, but you may submit multiple requests during the duration of this crisis and the subsequent recovery period.

For more information or to informally discuss your request before submission, please call the Community Foundation at (920) 746-1786 or email to responsefund@givedoorcounty.org.