As reported by Colten Bartholomew, Wisconsin State Journal, Photo credit: Steve Apps, State Journal
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Tuesday, March 31, 2020
As reported by Colten Bartholomew, Wisconsin State Journal, Photo credit: Steve Apps, State Journal
Jack and Bobby Dunn weren’t going to let the free time on their hands go to waste.
In a typical year, the brothers would be neck deep in spring football practices and classes at the University of Wisconsin. Jack’s a wide receiver going into his senior season and Bobby is a graduate assistant coach. But the COVID-19 coronavirus and a state mandate to stay at home have made this year anything but typical.
They’re both lifelong Madisonians, a fact that is “part of who we are,” Jack said.
As they saw the effects of the pandemic spreading through their hometown and surrounding communities, they knew they wanted to do something to help, but didn’t know quite where to direct their efforts. Then they heard from their father, Robert, that two local companies with which the family had connections — Agrace HospiceCare and The Edgewater hotel — were working together to help people in need.
They started the Team 2020 Campaign, an initiative to support up to 2,020 in-home Agrace patients and their families in need of food during Gov. Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order.
“I kind of took it on myself to try and help out somehow,” Jack said Tuesday. “I thought with the support that we have with UW football and growing up in the Madison community, we thought if we tried to organize a social media campaign and reach out to the contacts that we have — whether it’s through school or sports or otherwise — we thought we’d be able to put together a really powerful network of people that could help us raise money to provide support these people.”
The Dunn brothers posted a video and information regarding their campaign on social media Tuesday, including a link to their GoFundMe page that will raise money to support the cause.
Money raised will be directed to a fund at Madison Community Foundation, which will provide funding to Agrace. Should the campaign go well, other organizations to fund the expenses incurred from the meal production and delivery will receive funds.
Food and beverage vendors interested in donating their products are asked to contact the Edgewater team at statehouse@theedgewater.com.
The Edgewater’s team under the direction of executive chef Juan Martinez is cooking, packaging and distributing meals to Agrace’s in-home patients across southern Wisconsin. The first distribution of more than 200 meals went out last week, with the next delivery planned for Thursday.
Marcia Whittington, Agrace’s chief development officer, said the pandemic and the shelter-in-place order from the state make it difficult for some of their patients or their caregivers to get out to grocery stores for food. Their social workers helped identify patients and families in dire need of assistance.
“Hospice patients are at the end of life with a prognosis of six months or less. So for many of them, moving around and about and getting out is a challenge in the first place. During this time, it’s twice as hard,” Whittington said. “We also see patients that are definitely challenged financially to be able to even provide good meals. When we’re looking at this and you’re talking about people that are at one of their most vulnerable stages of their life, at the end of life, offering something like this is a huge gift.”
A message left with Amy Supple, the senior vice president and chief operating officer of The Edgewater Hotel Company wasn’t returned. The hotel has also been hit hard by COVID-19 effects, laying off or cutting hours for more than 200 employees.
The Dunns know both businesses they’re partnering with well. Robert developed and built the hotel in 2014, and their grandfather was an Agrace patient before passing away last summer.
“The folks at Agrace did a fantastic job assisting him near the end of his life. Agrace is really near and dear to our family,” Bobby said.
Jack and Bobby say they’re focused on making the largest footprint they can through their social media efforts. UW football staffers Colin Ludema and John Schaefer helped them put together their initial video to kick off the campaign, and the Dunns are hoping to cast as wide a net as possible to garner support.
UW football coach Paul Chryst has pledged his support and is assisting the Dunns by connecting them with former Badgers players and alums. Bobby is reaching out to his contacts in the coaching community and Jack is pursuing support on campus as well.
“We have a lot of pride in Madison, we think it’s a really special place and in times like this, when people are hurting, we think that it’s our responsibility and the responsibility of those who can to step up and help provide support for people need it,” Jack said.
The brothers have set a preliminary goal of raising $100,000, but hope that word of their mission spreads and that goal can be raised.
“As long as we can keep affecting people in a positive way, keep helping Agrace in any way we can, we’re going to do it. We’re hoping that we far exceed our goal so that we can help them if it shakes this way long into the summer and into the fall, if needed,” Bobby said.
While the Dunns know their ties to Badgers football can help them in their cause, they don’t want it to be peoples’ focus or motivation for donating.
“The thing that we don’t want to get lost here is this is all about the Madison families. It’s a way to support them, give meals to them and help them out in a time where they’re really struggling,” Jack said.
“I know with us having the connection to UW football, this could certainly turn into the sort of thing where it’s, ‘UW football player is doing whatever,’ but we want this to be driven by the fact that we’re doing it to help people in Madison. And to help families that are struggling. I think me and Bob aren’t guys that really love publicity or anything like that, we’re typically pretty low-key. I think the only reason we’re out there on social media championing this thing right now is just because we have a platform that other people don’t. It’ll help us provide support for these families.”
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