20 years of making your day brighter

We celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2021! We wanted to do something extra special to celebrate and what better way than to pay it forward by giving back to the community that we have been privileged to be a part of these past 20 years.

Therefore, we launched our “20 years of making your day brighter” campaign where we carried out 20 acts of kindness throughout the year. These 20 acts of kindness took many forms including monetary and charitable donations, sponsorships, volunteering our time, random acts of kindness and other ways that we could help the community. *Please note that all acts of kindness were for organizations, non-profits or community events. Since we had no fair way of determining individual need, individual people or families were not considered.*

We shared this journey all year long on Facebook and here on our website so you can see what amazing people and organizations we gave back to. We look forward to continuing to make your day brighter!

Act of kindness #1: T.B. Scott Mansion Tower relocation lighting

When we heard that the T.B. Scott Mansion tower was going to be saved and relocated, we pledged to do the lighting at no cost to the city as our 1st act of kindness. The lighting looks beautiful and if you get a chance to see the tower at night you really should!

Act of kindness #2: Lincoln County Humane Society

We dropped off donations including cat liter, cleaning supplies and some cookies for the staff and volunteers!

Act of kindness #3: Marathon County Humane Society

We dropped off cat food and toys, dog treats, cleaning supplies and some baked goods for the staff members.

Act of kindness #4: Merrill Chamber of Commerce

The Merrill Chamber of Commerce is doing some remodeling. We did some electrical work for them at no charge and also dropped off some baked goods for the staff. We can’t wait to see the office once the remodeling is completed!

Act of kindness #5: Cookies for Healthcare Workers

We took over 100 individually wrapped cookies (both super cute and yummy) to the Marshfield Clinic in Merrill. It was a simple way to thank all of the doctors, nurses and healthcare workers for all they do for us!

Act of kindness #6: Fire Safety Education Materials

We donated money to the National Fire Safety Council via the Merrill Fire Department. The money will be used to create and distribute fire safety education materials for kids throughout our local community. Our donation will cover materials for 50 local students!

Act of kindness #7: Desserts for Merrill Fire Department

In honor of EMS week and National Electrical Safety Month, we took a delicious assortment of desserts from the Polka-Dotted Pie bakery to the Merrill Fire Department for the firefighters and administrative staff!

Act of kindness #8: Setting for Saint Jude Children’s Hospital

Team ITL entered the Setting for Saint Jude volleyball tournament where 50% of all proceeds are donated to Saint Jude Children’s Hospital. Our team took first place in the B division and donated all winnings back to Saint Jude’s.

Act of kindness #9: Glow Run Sponsorship for Gigi’s Playhouse of Wausau

We were a sponsor for the 5K Glow Run to support Gigi’s Playhouse of Wausau. In addition, to being a sponsor we had a team walk in the event. It was so much fun and we were told that they ended up raising over $75,000. How awesome is that!?! And to top it all off our very own Brittney Petroske sang the national anthem to start the race!

Act of kindness #10: Wisconsin River Pro Rodeo Sponsorship

We sponsored the Wisconsin River Pro Rodeo that took place right here in Merrill. We were sponsors for the Rodeo Queen competition. And to top it off Sasha was asked to be a judge for the Queen’s competition!

Act of kindness #11: Lincoln County Fair Sponsorship

The Lincoln County Fair was back this year and we were excited to sponsor them for their “These are the Good Ole Days” theme. Did you see our banner in the livestock pavilion?

Act of kindness #12: Blessings in a Backpack

Just in time for back to school we were able to give food donations to Blessings in a Backpack. They provide food on the weekends to children who may not have access to it in the DC Everest, Wausau and Mosinee school districts. We are very happy we could help with their mission!

Act of kindness #13: Salvation Army Light

There was a light at the Salvation Army Shelter in Wausau that was not working. We replaced it for them at no cost for material or labor.

Act of kindness #14: Cards for Pine Crest Nursing Home

We really wanted to do something for the residents of Pine Crest nursing home. We hand-wrote 100 greeting cards, one for each resident, but we wanted to make it extra special. We had 100 local kindergarten and first grade students color a lightbulb coloring sheets and then we put one in each card.

Act of kindness #15: Empty Bowls

Empty Bowls is run by the Neighbor’s Place and it is all about feeding those in our community. This year Empty Bowls is November 13th – 20th. Bowls are created by kids at schools and people in the community and then the painted bowls are given to restaurants where the restaurants donate vouchers for customers to come in and get a bowl of soup. We worked with The Clay Corner Studio in Wausau as they were allowing people to paint bowls at a discounted rate. We had some employees go there and paint bowls and then we also donated $250.00 to Clay Corner so they could paint and donate additional bowls.

Act of kindness #16: Veteran’s Gift Cards

We donated 25 Denny’s gift cards to the Veterans Weekly Cup-of-Coffee. Those 25 gift cards will be given to Veterans and their spouses to have a meal at Denny’s over the holiday season. The Veterans Weekly Cup-of-Coffee group meets at the Denny’s restaurant in Rothschild and consists of over 550 Veterans (and that number continues to grow). Any Veteran is welcome to join!

Act of kindness #17: Wreath Hanging at the Merrill Courthouse

The Christmas wreath at the Merrill courthouse is a tradition! This year some of us spent the morning helping to set it up. If you haven’t seen it yet, make a point to drive by at night and see it all lit up.

Act of kindness #18: O’Tannenbaum Tour Gift Basket

Did you get a chance to go to the O’Tannenbaum Tour? It was a stunning display of Christmas trees, wreaths and gift baskets. We donated a gift basket with the theme “All is Bright!” Proceeds from the O’Tannenbaum Tour will be donated to the 4H and other local charities

Act of kindness #19: Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army

We spent some time the week of Christmas ringing the bell for the Salvation Army in front of County Market in Wausau! It was cold but so much fun!

Act of kindness #20: Share Your Holiday Donation

For our final act of kindness, we bought food and dropped it off at Incredible Bank in Weston as part of News Channel 7’s Share Your Holiday campaign. All food and money donations will be donated to the Salvation Army and the Neighbor’s Place!

Acts of Kindness Recap Video

It was a wonderful year and we are so happy we could do these 20 acts of kindness in our community! Watch this video to see a compilation of all 20 acts of kindness. Thank you for 20 years!