Vrakas is proud to support the community in a variety of different ways. For example, in May we participated in the annual Ronald McDonald “Tab Toss” for the fourth year in a row and we launched our first inaugural United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) campaign!
Ronald McDonald Tab Toss
At Vrakas we have a fridge full of soda and although it might not be the healthiest option, it sure does help towards our contribution to the Ronald McDonald Tab Toss.
Since 2000, recycling the little aluminum tabs on the tops of soda cans has generated over $360,000 for the Ronald McDonald House. Little things do make a difference!
We are proud to help contribute to such an amazing organization. We’ve already started collecting for next year and you should too (pictured is our 2018 contribution).
UPAF Campaign
This was Vrakas’s first year participating in a UPAF workplace giving campaign. To celebrate the arts, Vrakas held a week of UPAF fun at the office including food like donuts for breakfast, nachos for lunch and root beer floats for dessert and prize giveaways like gift cards, Brewers tickets and theater tickets just to name a few – and all while learning about UPAF and its mission.
Vrakas’s goal of the campaign was to bring awareness of the UPAF organization and the arts to our employees. And we succeeded! Vrakas is proud to announce that our first-ever campaign resulted in 24 employees supporting the great work of UPAF.
Vrakas + UPAF = making southeastern Wisconsin a great place to live, work, play and learn!
Some facts we learned during our UPAF campaign:
- The UPAF mission statement is three-fold:
- Raise much-needed funds to ensure entertainment excellence
- Promote the performing arts as a regional asset
- Responsibly steward the dollars our donors so generously give us
- A community with a rich arts culture attracts new companies to locate here and helps keep top talent in our region because it provides fun and creative things to do. When businesses bring workers in from other regions, or decide to relocate to southeastern Wisconsin, our performing arts scene and variety of arts programs for children are major selling points.
- According to the Growing Prosperity report, developed by the City of Milwaukee, “The cultural scene in Milwaukee is particularly impressive for a city its size. More than 150 arts and cultural organizations call the Milwaukee region home.” There are dozens of world-class entertainment options within just 30 minutes of Waukesha County, as well as performances even closer to home at venues like the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center.
- The total arts industry expenditures, adding the direct economic activity of the arts and culture organizations in southeastern Wisconsin was almost $300 million. Almost 6,000 individuals are employed by the performing arts, generating $100 million in annual wages.
- The 14 Member Groups supported by UPAF impact the lives of thousands of children – many underserved – by delivering quality arts education directly in the classroom, through afterschool programs and on an individual basis with scholarships. In Waukesha County alone, UPAF Member Groups provide arts education outreach that impacts almost 50,000 students.
