🫶 Donations to Abundant Life fund top $240K

🫶 United Way Fund For Shooting Victims Tops $240K

• Over 1,440 donors raised a total of $240,740 for a United Way of Dane County fund set up to assist the Abundant Life Christian School community in the wake of the Dec. 16 school shooting.
• The money will go first to meet the financial needs of the families of the teacher and student who were killed. The next highest priority is the medical bills of those injured in the shooting. Remaining funds will go to support the mental health needs of the entire school community.
• Contribute online at the nonprofit’s website or by texting Help4ALCS to 40403. [🔒WSJ, City of Madison, United Way]

↕️ Wisconsin Is Shrinking. Dane County Is Growing.

• Wisconsin’s population is expected to drop by 200,000 residents by 2050 due to declining birth rates and the aging baby boomer population, according to a new state report. The decline will exacerbate the state’s workforce shortage, the report’s authors said, and can likely only be turned around if Wisconsin can attract new residents from other states or countries.
• But, the same report expects the population in Dane County, the state’s fastest growing population, will grow by 38% during the same time period. [WPR, Wisconsin DOA]

🧒 Children’s Museum Will Expand Onto Third Floor

• Madison kids will soon find even more to explore at the Madison Children’s Museum. The museum recently received a $2.5 million grant from the Lilly Foundation, and $1.5 million will go towards developing its third floor into additional exhibit space.
• That floor is currently used as storage for items from past exhibits or items that have been collected for possible use in future exhibits. Some of those items may end up being donated elsewhere to make room. [Isthmus]

⬆️ Last week’s photo

This mural, by Madison artist Emily Balsley, is located in the parking lot of the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream on Monroe Street.

🎉 Congratulations to Kate L. for being the first person to guess right!

⬇️ This week’s photo

Do you know where this impressive view is? A few clues:

• The windows look out onto State Street.
• The building was designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli
• You will find stunning photos in this building that look much better than this one!