Power of 100 Raises $10,000 for Westby Hail Storm Recovery

Over 50 people gathered at Nordic Lanes in Westby on Sunday, May 4 to listen to three nominees share their stories and ideas for upcoming community projects. Power of 100+ Driftless Region is a community-based giving circle that flash fundraises money and allows the donors to vote where the funds are donated to. Founded in 2016 by Jenna Bean and Randi Strangstalien, members of the group are committed to financially supporting the communities of Cashton, Chaseburg, Coon Valley, Stoddard, Viroqua and Westby. With a shared belief in the strength of rural communities and neighbors helping neighbors, the group has grown to 122 members and has donated over $390,000 to 81 different causes ranging from families to community events to EMS equipment to schools and more.

The meeting started with an update from the February 2026 Impact Award winner, Kay Bluske, a retired Westby teacher and Chaseburg resident diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last fall.  At the previous meeting, Bluske was awarded $10,100 to assist with medical expenses, along with travel and lodging expenses for appointments in La Crosse and Rochester. Kay’s story of diagnosis and treatments were outshadowed by her stories of support. Bluske shared “It is difficult to put into words the gratitude I feel for the generosity and kindness this group has shown me.” 

Next, three nominees selected at random prior to the meeting began their pitches to describe how their organizations and the community at-large would benefit from a flash donation of $10,000. Jim Jarman, along with his daughters Claire and Ella, spoke on behalf of the Viroqua Montessori Outdoor Learning Space, an initiative underway to develop outdoor learning spaces throughout the Viroqua Area Schools campus to be used by students at all grade levels. They are entering Phase 1, which will include three specific projects, including a clean up of the outdoor school forest. Their first phase will cost just over $15,000, and includes labor from students and parents to complete the projects.

Pete & Alycann Taylor represented Camp Bluedog, a weekend event facilitated by Vernon Trails that is a Midwest mountain biking camp for kids ages 6-18. They've been in operation for 20 years and have grown to be the largest camp of its kind in the nation. The funds would have been used for scholarships, trail building tools, demo bikes and safety equipment, and new stunts and skills. Their goal is to get kids unplugged and outside into the natural world.

Both the Viroqua Montessori Outdoor Learning Space and Camp Bluedog received $1,000 as the voted runner-up nominees for the meeting.

The 'big check' of the afternoon was written out to the winning nominee, River 2 Ridge Disaster Resilience (R2RDR), to support and fund immediate assistance for residents impacted by the recent hail storm to hit the Westby area. R2RDR started out as a long-term recovery group when local flooding occurred in 2007 and 2008. After going dormant, their experience was quickly utilized to reconvene the group and add new members in response to the 2018 flooding events. R2RDR works closely with Emergency Management, volunteer organizations like Red Cross, United Way, 2-1-1 and others as WI-VOAD members. R2RDR serves LaCrosse, Monroe, Vernon and Crawford counties, and they are the only long-term recovery committee still in operation in Wisconsin to help facilitate responses to natural disasters. The $10,000 raised by Power of 100+ Driftless Region will be used to provide immediate assistance for residents needing to cover deductibles for vehicles or make repairs due to hail damage. Impacted residents can apply for funds at r2rdr.org. 

A quiet sunny summer-like afternoon couldn’t have provided a more opposite backdrop for the meeting in comparison to the hail storm that pummeled the region only a few weeks earlier. Throughout the meeting, two nominees were sharing about the beauty and benefits of nature, while another nominee described the recovery from the destruction and devastation of nature. “It was truly a yin and yang demonstrating the balance between 'good' and 'bad',” shared co-founder Randi Strangstalien. “As a group, we hear many heartbreaking stories throughout our meetings and times where we tear up along with our nominees when they are struggling to cope with tragic events or diagnosis. But we also hear many stories of hope and share tears of joy with our nominees, like Kay, when they come back to share good news with us.”

The good news will continue throughout the coming month, as members of Power of 100 also ran a donation drive at the meeting to collect feminine care products to be donated to Cashton Cupboard & Closet, along with Living Faith Food Pantry. The group collected over $500 of contributions and product donations at the meeting, furthering their impact.

If you are interested in joining the group or would like to learn more, please send an email to powerof100driftless@gmail.com or visit www.powerof100driftless.org. You can also “Like” the group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/powerof100driftlessregion.  Power of 100 is run entirely by volunteers with no administrative fees solicited from members. 100% of the funds donated by members are directly given to the Impact Award Winner and the two additional nominees each quarter.

The next Power of 100+ Driftless Region meeting will be held Sunday, August 2 at the Viroqua Fire Department. Nominees are submitted by members and announced about a week prior to the meeting.