SP CAN - Sauk Prairie Community Acceptance Now

05/11/2026

IT'S FINALLY SPRING!

Come to Culvers tomorrow, May 12, between to 4 and 8 pm and get delicious food, while helping out Sauk Prairie CommUNITY Acceptance Now (SP CAN.)

We'd love to see you! Your purchase will help fund our Community Read Program, Community Living Room Project, and more!

02/22/2026

01/26/2026

January 2026 Newsletter

SP CAN Purpose and History

The organization, SP CAN was formed in early 2021 as a way to become involved with social justice and equity issues in our community. Our idea was to bring community members together to share thoughts and ideas and learn more about important topics through books, discussions, speakers etc. SP CAN works in collaboration with our two libraries; any community member can pick up our featured Community Read books there and join any of our Community Read activities. SP CAN had succeeded in growing our presence and discourse each year.

Our first Community Read was in 2021. The book selection was Stamped for Life by Ibram X. Kendi & Jason Reynolds. Its focus or theme was Racism. The book gave us the history of racism and its effects. After giving ample time to read the book, we began holding book discussions.

Our second Community Read was in 2022. We read the book Solito,Solita - Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America edited by Steven Mayers and Jonathan Freeman. The focus was immigration and we read the personal stories of immigrants from Latin America and once again held several book discussions.

In 2023, we held our third Community Read. The book was This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. In this book, we learned about the abuse suffered by Native American children taken from their families and forced to attend a government boarding school. We were able to extend our opportunities with a Ho Chunk Nation speaker and a film screening of Indian Horse as well as book discussions.

Our fourth Community Read was in 2024 and our focus/theme was Adult Mental Health. The selected book was The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. In this book, a woman regrets her life choices and gets a chance to see how things would be different with other choices. We had several resource books for additional information. We also a panel discussion of area specialists in this area and a film screening of The Hours.

In 2025 we held our fifth Community Read with our focus on loneliness and social isolation. The book selected was Eleanor Oliphant is All Right” by Gail Honeyman. We expanded to reads at the Middle School and High School on this topic as well.

The topic for the 2026 Community Read will again be Loneliness. Selection of a book is taking place now for the Community Read this Fall.

Upcoming Event Sponsored by SP CAN & ISP

SP CAN and ISP (Indivisible Sauk Prairie) are co-sponsoring a presentation, followed by discussion and Q & A, on Monday, February 23 from 6:15-7:45 pm at the Ruth Culver Community Library. John Peck from the Family Farm Defenders will be speaking on the topic of Building Solidarity Between Family Farmers and Farm Workers in Troubled Times. We are hoping to have a streaming option available. Stay tuned!

According to neoliberal economists (and protofascist politicians), family farmers and farm workers should have nothing in common. But that is not true, especially if one believes in broader principles of food sovereignty and global cooperation. Family Farm Defenders has a long history of building coalitions within the labor movement, and that includes organizing with farmworkers and others across the entire food sector. He'll share some of the lessons from that work, and discuss current efforts to resist deportations and counter xenophobia in Wisconsin and elsewhere. As the slogan of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) proclaims, an injury to one is an injury to all!

John E. Peck grew up on a farm in rural MN during the 1970s farm crisis and is still farming today (with his partner) in Green County (www.yellowdogproduce.com). He has a PhD in Land Resources from UW-Madison and teaches economics part-time at Madison College. For the last 25 years he has also been the executive director of Family Farm Defenders (www.familyfarmers.org), a national grassroots organization devoted to promoting food sovereignty.

Partnership with Sauk Prairie Health Care Foundation Grants

Two of our Board members, Cynthia Odden and Ellen Paul, have written grants to the SPH Foundation the past several years. Grants have been funded, providing books for the Community Reads and, this past year, providing books for the Middle School and High School Reads.

Our grant application for 2026 was recently approved to help fund training for the Community Living Room program. Read on in this newsletter for more information on the Community Living Room (CLR)!

Other Ways SP CAN Interacts with our Communities

Other ways SP CAN works with the larger Sauk Prairie community is by interacting with our Middle School and High School activities and Community Education programs. Regular communication with Activity Directors keeps SP CAN aware of the needs of these programs as we seek to identify and mitigate barriers to students’ participation in activities.

Community and area activities in which we have participated are being gatekeepers with an SP CAN table at the Cow Chip Festival, having at table at Sauk County’s Celebrate Sauk event, and helping support the Be Kind Fest. We will be participating as SP CAN at the Earth Day Community Clean-up-Spruce up on April 22. Please join on if you can!

Community Living Room

In our exploration of the topic Loneliness and Isolation, some of us read the book The Connection Cure by Julia Hotz and held a book discussion with invited community members. The book focused on “social prescriptions” that have shown promise for improving health and wellness.

One of our Board members, Morgan Hunter, had knowledge of a program called The Community Living Room (CLR) which had been founded in Appleton. The CLR focuses on making connections with people through social interactions. This was also discussed at the book discussion. SP CAN decided to follow-up on the idea and held a Community Living Room Pop-up on October 23.

Just what is the CLR all about? The Community Living Room is a non-clinical, person-centered environment for people seeking social connection and emotional support. It utilizes connection as a framework for prevention in a no-cost, community-based, supportive space.

The outcome of the Community Living Room is connection. The Community Living Room is grounded in the present, offering a healing space for people to be seen, heard, and valued just as they are.

Many other spaces in community offer plans, treatment, and resources – action-focused. However, The Community Living Room is focused on present-moment connection and support.

The CLR is a free and open space where people can come to play games, do crafts, have snacks or to just “be”!

Volunteers are trained as listeners. SP CAN’s future plans are to train listeners through the people in Appleton.

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter!

If you have questions or comments you would like to share, please contact
Cynthia Odden ([email protected]) or Ellen Paul ([email protected])

SP CAN Newsletter Crew: Vicki Gullickson, Cynthia Odden, Ellen Paul

SP CAN Board: Cynthia Odden, President; Ellen Paul, Vice President and interim Secretary; Treasurer, Carol May; Members: Vicki Gullickson, Cliff Thompson, Bart Mauch, Morgan Hunter, Michelle Konkle, Anthony Dix (SPH), Chuck Murphree (SPSD), Lauren White (RCCL), Kylee Bear (GCCL)

12/29/2025

Do You Have An Empty Seat At the Holiday Table This Year?

The holidays are often the time we miss family members/friends who are gone the most. The Sauk Prairie Optimist Club and SP CAN (Sauk Prairie CommUNITY Acceptance NOW) invite you to honor those family members/friends by making a contribution to the Sauk Prairie Area Food Pantry (SPAFP) in their name.

Governmental funds and commodities for Food Banks have been cut drastically, even as grocery prices for struggling families have continued to increase. Kris Ballweg of the SPAFP says “The pantry food sourcing is much more expensive today because we are paying for items that were once free to us, such as milk and eggs.” A Food Pantry volunteer states “Last year, the pantry would go to the distribution center in the Dells and pick up 5 pallets of food from a federal program. Lately, we only pick up 1 or 2 at most.”

Food is the most fundamental way we can help our neighbors. Please consider a donation to the SPAFP. The joy you will bring to others may help fill the void of that empty seat at the table.

You can send a check to SPAFP, PO Box 652, Sauk City, WI 53583. Put “Empty Seat - _______” with the name of the person you are honoring on the memo line.

To give online go to: https://spfoodpantry.org/campaigns/general-giving/ . In the Comment Area, type Empty Seat – in honor of _____________.

Your donation will both help our community and honor your loved one with the gift of food for others in this Holiday Season. You know they would love the tribute.

Thank you.

SP CAN and the Sauk Prairie Optimist Club.

12/14/2025

This is a wonderful event! And, mostly free.

Mark your calendar for the 2025 Celebration of the season, Saturday, December 20. Find more info on our Events page and website home page: https://freecongregation.org/home.aspx

12/12/2025

SP CAN Community Read 2025 Books for Sale


The Sauk Prairie CommUNITY Acceptance Now group (SP CAN), will be selling copies of the 2025 Community Read book, Eleanor Oliphant Is Perfectly Fine, at Ballweg Pharmacy. This novel explored with humor and sensitivity, loneliness and the healing power of community. Copies are $5.00 each., All proceeds will go for future Community Reads held annually.

This would make a great Christmas or Graduation gift!

09/19/2025

Check us out! Thank you, Optimists 🙏🏼

Sauk Prairie Optimists Updated on Program They Initiated

On September 17, the Sauk Prairie Optimist Club was treated to an update on the program that they initiated. SP CAN (Sauk Prairie CommUNITY Acceptance Now) President Cynthia Odden. first shared SP CAN’s beginning and history since the group was started.

In 2021, Optimist International challenged all chapters to be involved in social justice issues. A group of Sauk Prairie Optimist Club members formed a committee and the Sauk Prairie Social Justice and Equity Initiative (SPSJEI) was born, adding interested community members. It evolved into its present organization, the Sauk Prairie CommUNITY Acceptance Now (SP CAN) which is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization.

SP CAN’s mission statement s to cultivate inclusivity and celebrate diversity, create opportunities for connections and conversations in the community, and partner with others to make positive changes and build community.,

The group has planned and offered programs on Racial Inequalities (2021), Hispanic Immigration (2022), Indigenous Issues (2023) and Adult Mental Health (2024).

In 2021 and 2022, the Community Read and discussion groups were offered; in 2023, expanded offerings were added to include a speaker and a film screening. In 2024, offerings expanded to include two panel discussions in addition to two book discussion groups and a film screening.

The focus this year is on Loneliness and Social Isolation. Offerings were expanded to include book discussions at Sauk Prairie Middle School and High School in a cooperative effort with the MS and HS Library Media Specialist.

Two book discussion groups at our local libraires are scheduled. The book this year is ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ by Gail Honeyman. The free books can be found at either library. The book discussions are September 23 from 1-2 pm at the George Culver Community Library in Sauk City and October 6 from 6:30-7:30 pm at the Ruth Culver Community Library in Prairie du Sac.

The group is also exploring the concept of The Community Living Room to combat loneliness and social isolation. There will be a pop-up community living room experience on October 23 from 4-7 pm at the Culver Community Park in the Culver Landing building. Please come and find out about this program to combat loneliness and social isolation.

Core SP CAN Committee members are: Cliff Thompson, Ellen Paul, Carol May, Bart Mauch, Vicki Gullickson, Cynthia Odden, (Optimist members), Chuck Murphree (Sauk Prairie School District) Lauren White (Ruth Culver Community Library Director), Kylee Bear (George Culver Community Library Director). Anthony Dix (Sauk Prairie Health Care), Michelle Konkle, and Morgan Hunter, community members. The SP CAN Advisory Committee consists of John Ramthun (6:8 Inc.) Sally Williams (clergy), and Veronica Gallas (Sauk Prairie School District). For more information, check out the SP CAN page.

Pictured (L-R): Ellen Paul, Cynthia Odden, and Cliff Thompson, all SP CAN Sauk Prairie CommUNITY Acceptance Now) Board members, and Optimists smile and pose for a picture ``after Cynthia Odden presented an overview of SP CAN's mission and history, this year's Community Read and their exploration of the Community Living Room concept.