Sunshine Place

⚠️ 🎟 LAST CHANCE to buy your tickets or game day packages for the Madison Mallards game TOMORROW, August 2nd! Sunshine Place is the featured nonprofit, and for every ticket or package sold, a portion is donated to support Sunshine Place programs!

👉 Learn more and buy your tickets/game day packages: https://sunshineplace.org/mm-nonprofit-spotlight-game/

⚾ See you at the game!

🙏 THANK YOU to all of the incredible attendees, vendors, sponsors, and volunteers who made Sunshine Place's annual Infopalooza resource fair a success. This year we welcomed 436 attendees and 45 vendors, with the help of 116 volunteers! It was so gratifying to see all of the families who showed up and enjoyed the food, fun, and activities at the event, while learning more about some of the incredible resources and supports our community has to offer. 🌞

💖 Here's what some of the attendees had to say:

"We are very thankful for this event. The activities for kids was a great help so I can see and use the resources here".

"First time being here, and has been the best event I have attended in Sun Prairie".

"It’s great that there are kid activities and the [Good Neighbor's] market is a great touch. We just moved to Sun Prairie, so it’s nice to see the resources and see the community".

📣 Shout-out to all of our AMAZING vendors! Thanks again for participating and to those of you who came to the Sunshine Place table to connect. Special thanks to One Community Bank for sponsoring this event, to Reyes Coca Cola Bottling for donating water and lemonade, to Culver's - Sun Prairie for donating ice cream,
and to DJ Mike Mosso and Classic Creations face painting for their in-kind donations.

🤝 Additional thanks to volunteers from Prairie Phoenix Academy and the Ascendium Education Group for helping with event prep, to Second Harvest for providing the produce for our Good Neighbors farmer's market, to Team Anjani for providing games and henna, and finally, to the Sun Prairie West Football team for helping with event set-up and clean-up for the fourth year!

THANK YOU to our wonderful volunteer event photographer, John Kalson (https://jkalphotography.smugmug.com/). View more photos from Infopalooza here: https://jkalphotography.smugmug.com/Celebrating-and-Supporting-Non/Sun-Prairie-Food-Pantry/2026-Infopalooza

We are so grateful to be able to host this event, and we are already looking forward to next year!👏 🥰



One Community Bank, Coca-Cola, Culver's, Prairie Phoenix Academy, Ascendium Education Group, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, Team Anjani, Sun Prairie West Youth Football

📣 Three cheers for our 3 recent Summer Lunch sponsors, Sun Prairie Lions Club, AprilAire, and WPPI Energy's HR team! Thank you so much for your support of summer lunches for local kiddos, a part of Sunshine Place's Food for Kids program! It's always a joy to have groups return to help year after year.

👉 Learn more about our Food for Kids program: https://sunshineplace.org/food-pantry/food-for-kids/
💙 Support the Food for Kids program: https://sunshine.app.neoncrm.com/forms/3

✨ Volunteer Spotlight! ✨
Ady, Gina, Bety, and Adry (L->R), have volunteered at Sunshine Place for years. Last year, this group (and volunteer, Jennifer, not pictured!) helped lead our free ESL and Spanish classes. Together, they have made a difference in our community, and like many who volunteer with us, have built lasting friendships with one another.

In 2025, these amazing volunteers handled:
💙 More than 100 instances of participation in our ESL classes
💛 Over 280 instances of participation in our Spanish classes

We are so grateful for volunteers like these ladies, who share their talents with our neighbors through Sunshine Place. 🥰

🤝 Volunteer with Sunshine Place: https://sunshineplace.org/i-want-to-help/volunteer-opportunities/
➡ Stay tuned to our social media to be notified when our FREE ESL and Beginner's Spanish classes restart in the fall!

THANK YOU to Sun Prairie United Methodist Church members for their generous donation of backpacks and funds to purchase backpacks and school supplies for our Stuff the Bus program! We could not meet this need without the support of donors like you! 🥰

Stuff the Bus is coming up soon, and we still need your help to provide 2,000 local children with backpacks and school supplies!

Here’s how you can help:
🚌 Donate to the Stuff the Bus fund: https://sunshine.app.neoncrm.com/forms/12
🎒 Purchase a backpack from one of our wish lists:
- https://www.walmart.com/lists/shared/WL/5d61ab33-b623-4aa4-97ac-55a0ba5e4ce5
- https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/33PMA7ZBW2KY0/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex
⭐ Participate in our Summer Kids Challenge for the chance to win a year's supply of Culver's frozen custard: https://sunshineplace.org/services/child-outreach/stuff-the-bus/ #:~:text=Summer%20Kids%20Challenge%20to%20Support%20Stuff%20the%20Bus

Every child deserves to start the school year feeling equipped, confident, and ready to learn. How will you help Stuff the Bus?

✨ THANK YOU to all of the amazing volunteers and community members who came to the official dedication and ribbon-cutting for our new KiDs Closet (formerly C.A.R.D.S. Closet) donation bin! It was such a special gathering of this program's beginnings and future, with the program founders and some of our current youth volunteers in attendance. 💞

👉 Years ago, community members Denise and Kathleen helped their sons answer a school project question: how can one person make a difference? From there, KiDs Closet was born, providing clothes to local youth, for free. Before handing off the program a few years ago, Denise and Kathleen were the volunteer leads with the help of their sons, and for years after their sons left for college.

This month's ceremony honored all 4 of the program's founders, and a group of current volunteers, Team Anjani. Team Anjani is a group of youth who volunteers frequently with Sunshine Place programs. They planned the new donation bin, fundraised for materials, and built it. The new bin is more visible and accessible, which has increased donations. The new program name, KiDs Closet, not only makes the program’s purpose easier to understand, it honors the two women who who helped found the program, and kept it running for many years. K for Kathleen, and D for Denise. 🥰

🙏 Thanks again to all of the amazing community members past and present, who made this amazing program a reality. We are so grateful to have such a caring, motivated community of volunteers who see a need, and take action to meet it.

👚 Learn more about KiDs Closet & how to shop/donate: https://sunshineplace.org/services/child-outreach/cards-closet-sp/
💙 Support Kids Closet: https://sunshine.app.neoncrm.com/forms/3

Team Anjani, State Representative Andrew Hysell, Melissa Ratcliff for State Senate

🙏 THANK YOU to the wonderful volunteers from Heartland Church for the delicious meal served at a recent Sunshine Supper!

Guests enjoyed some fun 80's music outside that set a lighthearted tone for the evening. One volunteer saw a past student, and the young girl expressed her appreciation for the meals from Sunshine Supper.

👉 Learn more about Sunshine Supper: https://sunshineplace.org/services/food-services/sunshine-supper/
🍽 Support Sunshine Supper: https://sunshine.app.neoncrm.com/forms/3

🥰 Besties who volunteer together stay together. Our awesome KiDs Closet volunteers, Judith and Patty, are proof, celebrating 30 years of friendship this year! Together, they dedicate weekly volunteer hours to KiDs Closet, doing inventory and assisting with shopping appointments. We are so grateful for all that they do, and that they have each other to make the hours fly by. 💛

👀 Are you looking for something meaningful to do with your bestie, your partner, or that eccentric co-worker you keep meaning to get to know better? Here are two current volunteer needs for Sunshine Place programs. Volunteering just once a month makes a big difference!

👉 1. Team up to assist clients shopping at Sunshine Pantry! This vital role supports community members using the pantry and training is provided. Apply to volunteer here: https://sunshineplace.org/i-want-to-help/volunteer-opportunities/
Email our Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator to get a mini tour or to learn more about volunteering: [email protected].

👉 2. Help us restock KiDs Closet with underwear by hosting a drive with your friend group, family, or workplace. We currently have a high need for extra-small, small, and medium adult women's underwear. Underwear is our most expensive purchase for KiDs Closet, so donations are important!
- Find our underwear drive kit here:https://sunshineplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/KiDs-Closet_Host-a-Clothing-Drive_Underwear-3.pdf Or, shop either of our wishlists to have items shipped to us directly:
- Wishlist 1: https://www.walmart.com/lists/shared/WL/906748c6-b01b-491e-b261-590b86c19b92
- Wishlist 2: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1KSQNISWJA7TT?ref_=abls_nvfly_swy

✨ Thank you to our wonderful partners at United Way of Dane County, who recently donated 900 packs of period products to our Sunshine Pantry program! We are proud to be one of a limited number of pantries that provides essential self-care products like these, and donations keep our shelves stocked. Thank you for helping us provide this basic dignity to our shoppers!

👉 Learn more about Sunshine Pantry: https://sunshineplace.org/food-pantry/
❤ Support Sunshine Pantry: https://sunshine.app.neoncrm.com/forms/10
🍅 Host a pantry product drive: https://sunshineplace.org/food-drive-kit/