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AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTION

Thank you, Elevate Media! From their Facebook post: “We are thrilled to announce that Elevate Media Group Inc has been awarded a SILVER TELLY AWARD this year for our impactful work on the Amara Rose Foundation’s “Crisis in Our Communities: Addiction & Fentanyl” in the category of General-Social Issues!
We are honored to be recognized alongside prestigious institutions such as Harvard Business School, ProPublica, The Library of Congress, and Clemson University. This achievement underscores our commitment to producing meaningful content that makes a difference.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Amara Rose Foundation, Inc. for their dedication to honoring lives lost to addiction through awareness, education, prevention, and support. It has been a privilege to collaborate with such an inspiring group of people.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us along this journey. This award is a testament to the hard work and passion of our team at Elevate Media Group. Here’s to more impactful collaborations and meaningful projects ahead!”
Watch Video: https://amararosefoundation.org/
#TellyAwards #SilverTelly #ElevateMediaGroup #AmaraRoseFoundation #AddictionAwareness #SocialImpact

**Please note, for up-to-date information and activities, please see our Facebook page (link at bottom of this page).**

DONATE FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR PEOPLE IN RECOVERY AND IN JAIL

We started a new campaign for the holidays! We are looking for ways to bless a select few in recovery and in jail with items needed and gifts to brighten their Christmas. If you’d like to donate, please go to THIS LINK. Watch our Facebook page to see who received what from us/you. We’ll take donations until December 13th. Thank you so much for your love and care!

NEW AWARENESS AD/SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

In December, we launched our new awareness ad/social media campaign. We worked with Morgan Murphy Media, and our ads will appear on Snapchat and TikTok, targeting 13-24 year olds about the dangers of fentanyl. Ads will also appear on Facebook and Instagram, as well as a few running on WKBT during their 6:00 PM newscasts. This is all possible because of your donations.

ROTARY LIGHTS TREE & TWINKLEFEST PARADE

Our La Crosse Rotary Lights tree was decorated on November 25th, and you are welcome to add an ornament with your loved one’s name on it anytime after that. Like last year, we will provide the ornaments at the base of the tree. This is a beautiful tribute to their lives.

On November 29th, the foundation was in Viroqua’s Twinklefest Parade. We handed out educational flyers, bracelets, pens, and of course, candy. It was bitterly cold, but the turnout was excellent. Photos are on our Facebook page.

SITTIN PRETTY FARM FUNDRAISER WAS ON OCTOBER 25

Some of our directors and volunteers helped make pizza, worked in the kitchen and served customers at Sittin Pretty Farm in rural Viroqua on Friday, October 25th from 5:00-8:00 PM. We had a great turnout and even ran out of pizza. We raised $700 and want to thank everyone who came and supported us!

SECOND ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE WALK WAS A SUCCESS!

Thanks to all of you who came to our Walk on September 11th. We had a bigger turnout than last year. Thank you for coming to walk in your loved one’s honor. All of the lights going around the track was just beautiful. Please click here to view the video. We’d like to take this time to also thank our sponsors:

Platinum Level

Chad “Wild” Myhre Memorial

Gold Level

Thirsty Turtle

Elevate Media Group

Silver Level

Bernadot Studios

Seland Funeral Home

Every Plumbing and Heating

WCCU

River Bank

C & C Landscaping

Advertising Solutions

Titan Machinery

Water’s Edge Campground and Motel

Connelly Law Office

Viroqua Fire & EMS

Thorson-Popp Funeral Home

Fat Cat Bait & Tackle

Weisbrod & Associates, Inc.

Viroqua Eagles 2707 Auxilliary

Viroqua Eagles 2707 Aerie

707 Supply/Safestrip

Vernon Memorial Healthcare

LET’S CELEBRATE YOUR RECOVERY!

If you’re in successful recovery, we want to tell the world about your success. You’ll be an inspiration to others. We are proud of you! To be considered, please send an email to amararosefoundation@gmail.com. We need you to tell us that you give us permission to post your photo and info. Your photo should be a high-quality (at least 300 dpi) photo. Please list your name and town (if you’d like) and sober date. We’ll get back to you with the progress of your submission and when the page will go live. Thanks in advance for wanting to share your success!

BILL MILLER RETURNS FOR A BENEFIT CONCERT ON JULY 12TH

Bill Miller returns to our area on Friday, July 12th for a benefit concert for our foundation and two other non-profits. The concert will take place at 7:00 PM on Friday, July 12th, at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Viroqua. Bill will have his percussionist, Terry Nirva, and bass player, Andrew Steeno, perform with him. The concert is expected to last two hours. Tickets: $20.00 at the door. Thank you, Karen Dahl, for organizing this event!

NATIONAL FENTANYL AWARENESS DAY EVENTS ON MAY 7 & 8

May 7 was National Fentanyl Awareness Day, and we observed this important date with two nights of raising awareness and promoting HEALING for those who lost loved ones to addiction or fentanyl poisoning. In fact, anyone who lost a loved one to addiction or fentanyl poisoning AND anyone who conquered addiction were our GUESTS OF HONOR.

Our very special presenter was Bill Miller, a three-time Grammy Award winner, singer, speaker, artist and devoted family man. He presented with us at the Westby Performing Arts Center (206 West Avenue South, Westby, WI) on Tuesday, May 7. At 6:00 PM, he oversaw a healing circle for anyone who lost a loved one. At 7:00, our program began.

On May 8, we did it again at Connect Church in Onalaska, WI (3340 South Kinney Coulee Road). The event started at 6:30 PM.

We experienced two amazing nights! We gave out Narcan and test strips and had many meaningful conversations. Thank you to all our donors and sponsors for helping us make this happen!

SPONSORS

Trust Point

Vosseteig Funeral Home and Crematory

Lisa Henner

Water’s Edge Motel, Marina and Campground

Jeff Richardson

C & C Landscaping

Embroidery & More

Safe Strip (safestrip.com)

Night Cap It (nightcapit.com)

Seland Funeral Home

Seland Karpentland

Cheryl Hancock

Deb Hegland

Thorson-Popp Funeral Home

Roth Family Cremation Center

Julie Mills

Becky and Irvin Campbell

Refreshments provided by Cakes by Kolbo, Lindah’s Corner Stand and Bakery and Daily Brew

SECOND ANNUAL CHILI CHALLENGE WAS MARCH 2nd!

Our Second Annual Chili Challenge and Pie/Cake Auction was held at the Viroqua Eagles Club. Eleven challengers tried to beat Viroqua Mayor Justin Running, who claimed to make a really mean pot of chili! None of the challengers was able to dethrone Mayor Running, and he left with a First Place trophy! 2nd Place went to Genoa Village President Rick Phillips, 3rd Place went to Shelly Bass from Wildcat Bar and Grill, and 4th Place was awarded to Stacy Stanborn from Viroqua.

Our pie and cake auction was amazing, with 24 entries.

We all enjoyed listening to Dan Sebranek and Mary, and the place was packed most of the time!

We’d like to thank everyone who helped, who donated and who cooked or baked for this event. It was truly amazing. We are grateful!

Many thanks to the Viroqua Eagles Club 2707 and the Viroqua Aeries and Auxiliary!

VIROQUA SOUP ON JANUARY 22 AND LA CROSSE SOUP ON JANUARY 25!

Now that’s a lot of soup! The foundation pitched our cause at Viroqua SOUP on January 22nd and at La Crosse SOUP on January 25th!

Thank you, Viroqua community and Viroqua SOUP for choosing us to receive the $750 donation! We are so grateful and will use the money to educate and raise awareness. It was the most wonderful night.

Thank you, La Crosse community and La Crosse SOUP for letting us pitch and pass out our fact flyers. It was a fantastic night, and we were proud to accept third place! A huge thank you to Beer By Bike Brigade for giving us $500 for our third place “win.” It was a wonderful surprise!

VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION DINNER

The foundation treated our volunteers to a home-cooked dinner on January 27th! It was held at the Westby United Methodist Church. It was a very special night. We wanted to really spoil our volunteers since they worked so hard on our behalf this past year!

POP-UP EVENT TOUCHED MANY

Our foundation was proud to premier our first video Sunday, December 3rd, at 2:00 PM. This 12-minute hard-hitting video was produced by Elevate Media in Onalaska and features our directors talking about addiction, recovery and the fentanyl crisis in our nation. We had a small gathering, and many were touched by the video. You can watch the video from our Home page.

Thank you, Westby Area Performing Arts Center and Peter Engh for letting us use your beautiful facility!

ROTARY LIGHTS 2023

The Amara Rose Foundation volunteered at this year’s Rotary Lights in La Crosse, WI. We also have a tree in Riverside Park. Like last year, people are invited to hang ornaments and/or waterproof photos in honor of their loved ones lost to addiction or accidental fentanyl poisoning.

We held a candlelight memorial service at the tree at Rotary Lights Saturday, December 30th at 5:30 PM. There was prayer, touching songs and a lot of tears and sharing. Great friendships were formed, and it was a very good night!

We participated in the opening night parade and light-up ceremony on November 24th. The parade started at 5:00 PM.

We were also in Viroqua’s Twinklefest Parade the same night! It started at 6:00 PM.

Many thanks to the Viroqua Eagles Club and GoMacro in Viola for their generous donations of candy and bars for the parade!

FENTANYL TEST STRIPS AND NARCAN/NALOXONE

We have free fentanyl test strips and Narcan/Naloxone available. No questions, no judgement, we deliver to you. Email us to set up a time: info@amararosefoundation.org.

IN GRATITUDE

Our deepest gratitude to Gundersen Health System for their grant of $500! We will use it toward the purchase of our AV/presentation equipment, which is sorely needed.

Thank you to the Community Foundation of South Central Wisconsin for their $2,000 grant that will also go toward our AV equipment! We are so humbled!

FIRST ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE WALK

A very special thank you to the Fair Board for letting us use the grounds that evening!

It went super! Make plans to attend next year!

Community organization/tables participating

Next Steps for Change

The Other Door

Coulee Recovery Center

Linda De Garmo/American Cancer Society/Sole Burner

A Place for Angels

Bill and Joy Vogel