NONPROFIT

MARCUS CENTER LAUNCHES $9 MILLION CAMPAIGN TO OFFSET LOSSES, SUPPORT FACILITY UPGRADES

The Marcus Performing Arts Center in downtown Milwaukee has launched a $9 million campaign to offset losses from the COVID-19 pandemic and support its renovation project.

To date, the center has raised 46% of its “Raise the Curtain Campaign” goal and will continue raising funds over the next two years.

Like performance venues across the state, the Marcus Center has been particularly hard hit by the shutdown this spring and continued capacity restrictions. It reported a 75% revenue loss due to capacity limitations and canceled performances.

“As the region’s hub for performing arts and culture, the Marcus Center relies on the support of our patrons and community. This support is needed now more than ever, as we continue to endure the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our organization,” said Kendra Whitlock Ingram, president and chief executive officer of the Marcus Center.

This fall, the Marcus Center kicked off a multi-phased renovation project. The first phase of the project will make several upgrades to its main performance venue, Uihlein Hall. The project includes adding new seats, increasing public health and safety amenities and enhancing ADA accommodations. The center is also creating a new outdoor public space that will allow for socially-distanced programming.

— Lauren Anderson, staff writer

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Chosen Inc. will host its virtual “Open Homes, Open Hearts” gala on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are free. An online silent auction will open to registrants on Nov. 9, and several big-ticket items will be auctioned live at the Nov. 14 event. More information is available at choseninlove.org/2020gala. Milwaukee Urban League will host its virtual 35th annual Black & White Ball on Saturday, Nov. 21. More information is available at tmul.org. The Kelly Johnson Foundation will host its third annual Turkey Trot 5K on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 8 a.m. at Fox Brook Park, 2925 N. Barker Road in Brookfield. Race proceeds will support local high schools in Wisconsin and Illinois that have insufficient funding for after-school athletic and extracurricular programs, along with the Johnson Family Scholarship program. More information is available at kjfwi.org.

DONATION ROUNDUP Cousins Subs, through its Make It Better Foundation, donated $2,500 to Artists Working in Education and $2,000 to SecureFutures Foundation, Inc. to help offset the cost of providing youth education programming. | Milwaukee Public Schools recently received 4,000 backpacks, stuffed with school supplies, courtesy of Educators Credit Union and assembled by Beyond Vision. | Phoenix Investors donated $10,000 to Above & Beyond the Playground in support of the nonprofit’s new computer lab. | HSA Bank donated $5,000 each to Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Milwaukee and HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan to support the hospitals’ fight against COVID-19.

nonprofit SPOTLIGHT

Project RETURN client Ventae Parrow with his mother.

PROJECT RETURN 2821 Vel R. Phillips Ave., Suite 223, Milwaukee (414) 374-8029 | projectreturnmilwaukee.org

Instagram: @project.return.milwaukee

Twitter: @projectRETURN2 Dr. Ed de St. Aubin (secretary), Chris

Year founded: 1980

Mission: Project RETURN (Returning Ex-incarcerated People To Urban Realities and Neighborhoods) exists to help men and women make a positive, permanent return to community, family and friends. Is your organization actively

Primary focus: Helping ex-incarcerated men and women reenter society. What roles are you looking to fill?

Other focuses: Employment services, alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) counseling, housing, circles of support, alumni support group, help your nonprofit: open pipelines to employment for integrate into the community. which changes lives.

women’s support group, advocacy

Number of employees: 7

Key donors: The Reva and David Logan Foundation, Siebert Lutheran Foundation, Charles O’Malley Charitable Trust, Bader Philanthropies, Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Forest County Potawatomi Foundation.

Executive Leadership: Executive director Wendel Hruska, wendel@ projectreturnmilwaukee.org

(president), Rob Schreiber (vice president), William Harrell (treasurer), Rev. Mark Thompson (controller), Avallone, Rev. Joseph Ellwanger, Judge Patricia Gorence, Charles Hampton, Maggie Kuhn, Dr. Tom LaBel, Monte Mabra, Mark Rice and Judi Ruppel.

seeking board members for the upcoming term? Yes.

Fund development, legal services/ expertise, IT, lived experience with the organization’s mission.

Ways the business community can • Partner with Project RETURN to our clientele. • Provide volunteers for our support groups, such as Circles of Support, to provide support and also to better understand what an individual returning from incarceration goes through to re• Be a corporate sponsor of our fundraising events. • Underwrite our programming, Board of directors: Rodney Evans

Key Fundraising Events: Annual Golf Outing – June 2021