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Recent Grant Recipients

Waunakee Food Pantry: WCF awarded a grant of $1,750. The grant was used to purchase shelving units which help the facility make better use of their limited space.

Waunakee Library Forever Fund: WCF awarded a grant of $2,000. As a result of the drive's success, the Madison Community Foundation provided a matching grant for the building of a new library.

WCF Donates to Waunakee Neighborhood Connection

The Waunakee Community Foundation donated a matching grant of $2,000 to the Waunakee Neighborhood Connection (WNC) in November 2009. The grant was used for interior remodeling of their store.

The WNC’s mission is to help improve and create a difference in the lives of Waunakee area residents by making connections to distribute resources to those in need in a manner which blesses and enhances the entire community. The WNC operates a store which takes in donations and provides them to those in need free of charge.

Waunakee Community Foundation Grant Boosts Public Safety

By Roberta Baumann

There has been a new face in the Waunakee Police Department – one with a long, furry snout.
Alex, a black Labrador Retriever joined the ranks of the department last spring after training for year with Waunakee K-9 officer Adam Kreitzman. Police Chief Kevin Plendl said Kreitzman proposed the K-9 program, researched it, and helped to implement it after it was approved. A $1,000 grant from the Waunakee Community Foundation in August of 2007 helped fund the K-9 training.

Photo courtesy of Roger Hamilton

Chief Plendl noted that surveys of the community showed drugs and traffic were two major concerns, and the K-9 unit can help locate drugs during traffic stops. By law, officers can search a vehicle only with consent. But if Alex searches the vehicle and sits down – an indication that drugs are on board – a search is permissible.

Alex is trained as a drug sniffing and search dog. Unlike the Dane County Sheriff K-9 unit dogs, he is not trained to bite as a means of restraint. "Alex doesn’t bite, but he can track people. He’ll probably just lick you to death when he finds you,” Officer Kreitzman said.

Chief Plendl noted that a bite dog would have increased the village’s insurance premiums. Also, the police department opted for a less intimidating Labrador Retriever rather than the traditional K-9 German Shepherd breed for school presentations. Officer Kreitzman said his goal was always to be part of a K-9 unit. To his credit, Lt. Joe Peterson noted, Officer Kreitzman completed the steps necessary to obtain the dog and undertook the legal training necessary.

"He’s been a great tool for us at school presentations,” Officer Kreitzman said about Alex. “He catches the kids’ eye a lot more than I do." When the dog is off duty, he’s like a household pet and lies on the couch, Officer Kreitzman said. Children also perceive him as similar to their pets. But like the other police officers in the department, the dog is a professional.

“When I put the uniform on and when we get out in the squad, he knows he’s going to work,” he added. Alex has done 53 car searches cars during his first year on the job. He has located marijuana, cocaine and mushrooms, and helped with searches. Officer Kreitzman is the only officer who can use Alex for searches and testify in court in related cases. He still works at training Alex. K-9 dogs usually reach their peak at about 4 years old and can work alone, he said.

K-9 dogs normally retire between the ages of 7-10, when they lose the drive to play – the motivation behind their work. Officer Kreitzman said he hopes to find another dog to replace Alex when he retires and to keep the Waunakee K-9 unit going for a long time. Lt. Peterson said Alex is very much a part of the agency, and his photograph hangs on the wall at the station with the other officers’.