The Evjue Foundation, The Capital Times’ charitable arm, today announced its board has approved nearly $2.4 million in grants to support area nonprofits and educational institutions during 2026.

Among the grants is a $100,000 gift to support operations of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County to honor the memory of longtime CEO Michael Johnson, who died unexpectedly last month.

The Madison Community Foundation received a $250,000 Evjue grant, the second of two gifts for its ambitious Goodman nonprofit center to train and nurture nonprofit leaders in the Madison area.

The foundation was one of 134 community nonprofits to share in $2,062,136 in the Evjue Foundation’s annual distribution of funds from the charitable trust established in the will of William T. Evjue, the founder and longtime editor and publisher of The Capital Times, who died in 1970.

Additionally, the University of Wisconsin-Madison was awarded $322,500 for 36 projects, including a $48,000 grant to the Odyssey Project, which offers adults who never had a chance to attend college the opportunity to take college-level classes. Among the university’s grants was one that includes students from the Madison school district’s Shabazz City High School in a project monitoring chlorine in the east side’s Starkweather Creek.

Among the major grant community recipients are Madison LakeWay Partners, the nonprofit rebuilding the downtown shores of Lake Monona; and Sunshine Place, the Sun Prairie food pantry and housing co-op. Each received $100,000.

Grants of $50,000 each go to the new Center for Black Excellence and Culture, the Madison Children’s Museum, the Madison College Foundation and the United Way of Dane County’s 2026 fund drive.

Today’s gifts bring to more than $74 million the total amount of grants made by the Evjue Foundation since it was established by the late Mr. Evjue, who started it in 1958. Upon his death in 1970, he willed his controlling stock in the newspaper to a charitable trust that, in turn, donates its proceeds to the foundation. The will provided that the money be used to support local charitable, educational and community nonprofits. It was his way of paying back the community for its support of the newspaper he founded.

Decisions on grants are made by a 15-member board of directors. Seven represent The Capital Times Co.: Jim Lussier, who serves as president, Vice President Paul Fanlund, Laura Lussier-Lee, Dawn Lussier, Nancy Gage, Pam Wells and Dave Zweifel. Four directors represent the UW Foundation: Anne Lucke, Marion Brown, Brenda Gonzalez and Nancy Francisco-Welke. The final four represent the Madison Community Foundation: Bob Sorge, Therese Gulbransen, Mark Greene and Jeneen Hartley. Michelle Reynolds is the foundation’s executive director.

More than a third of Dane County households are struggling to afford basic needs, and it’s not for lack of effort. Although 69% of Wisconsinites in the labor force work full-time, just 40% of employed state residents can say they have the security of a salaried, full-time job, according to a new report from United Way of Wisconsin.

Increasingly more working people are finding themselves living on or below the ALICE threshold, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, the new report from the United Way of Wisconsin outlines.

That means any unanticipated incident can wallop 83,124 households in Dane County. So while those families’ earnings may place them above the federal poverty line, they don’t make enough to afford basic expenses, nor do they qualify for financial assistance.

We’re all familiar with what those incidents can look like.

The baseball-sized hail from April blasted roofs, banged up siding and smashed windshields, amounting to about $158.5 million in damages across Wisconsin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In Dane County, that figure was $66.5 million.

A trip to the emergency room can cost upward of $3,000 without insurance, but even with insurance, there’s significant sticker shock. Car repairs, anywhere between $120 to $1,500. If you’re a single adult without children, basic weekly food costs $84, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator. If you’re a single adult with two children, you’re spending $185 weekly on basics.

To live above the ALICE threshold in Dane County, you must earn $22 per hour, and it must be salaried and with benefits, according to researchers. Yet for the last 17 years, the minimum wage in Wisconsin hasn’t budged from $7.25.

MADISON (WKOW) — A United Way of Dane County program is celebrating volunteers who returned to community service after retirement.

READI (Retired Employees Are Dedicated Individuals) was founded in 1993 by retiring Oscar Mayer employees who wanted to make a difference in the Greater Madison Community and maintain and make new relationships with fellow employees.

The program now operates under United Way’s umbrella with more than 200 members volunteering with nonprofits across Dane County.

The volunteers contribute nearly 3,000 hours of service annually.

READI volunteers at events such as Second Harvest, River Food Pantry, Babies & Beyond, Iron Man, Birdie Derby, Gilda’s Club, NewBridge, Toys for Tots, and many others. There are project opportunities for everyone.

The United Way of Dane County is hosting “READI, Set, Celebrate” on July 15 at 9:30 a.m. at Warner Park Community Recreation Center to celebrate volunteers. The event will feature brunch, an informational program and booths from organizations READI supports.

You can find more information on READI by clicking here.