WAUKESHA, Wis. — TMJ4 News will broadcast live the Waukesha Christmas Parade this year on Sunday, Dec. 4. We are told the theme this year is "Peace on Earth."
Though there may be a mark left forever by last year's tragedy, we are showcasing two floats to look out for with extra meaning.
For the first time, the Waukesha County Community Foundation will have a float in this year's Christmas parade. The non-profit's president Melissa Baxter said, "The floats message is a thank you to those donors."
15,000 thank you's to be exact. According to Baxter, donations from all 50 states and 17 countries helped the non-profit raise $6.7 million. $6.2 million of that has been given out to more than 570 victims of the parade tragedy.
Baxter says, "For the first several weeks, just people walking in with bags of money. They were saying, 'Hey I did a fundraiser at my bar, or we did a fundraiser at our restaurant.'"
She hopes to keep that momentum going to help fund three different sites, which include a parade memorial, redoing a baseball field in memory of Jackson Sparks, and a parade memorial on Main Street.
Baxter estimates each site could cost more than a million dollars to create, "It's a really important part of healing, giving people a place to remember, a place to contemplate."
Giving back is the reason why Amanda Basso-Shurtz, Regional CEO, Ascension Wisconsin Hospitals, says she leaped at the chance for their neighborhood hospital to be "The Presenting Waukesha Christmas Parade Sponsor." Their Waukesha hospital on Fox Run Boulevard opened just one month before the parade tragedy.
Basso-Shurtz says some of the victims did arrive at their Waukesha ER, "And it was actually at a change of shift time so we had double the staff. I think at that time we were just like everyone else standing ready for what needed to be done."
She also hopes you give extra recognition to this year's grand marshal, All first responders.
"When the parade grand marshals come thorough, please give those an extra big cheer because they were the real heroes that day," she said.
To learn more about the Waukesha County Community Foundation's fundraising efforts, visit the Waukesha Foundation website.
Also, United for Waukesha Resiliency Center is committed to helping anyone affected by the events of November 21, 2021. To learn more, visit their website.