Supporting the community we live in to help make a positive impact on the lives of others.

The community in and around our hometown of Waite Park, Minnesota adjacent to St. Cloud and northwest of Minneapolis is part of who we are and why we’re here. Community involvement also provides our team with the fulfilling experience of giving back. Additionally, supporting our community helps boost team spirit and builds a united and inspired team. Simply, it feels good to give back, and we are fortunate to be in a position to do so.

In our community work, we tend to follow our hearts, and most roads lead to helping children. From toys and food to training and mentorship, we cherish the chance to make life better for kids, and maybe even help put them on the road to a more positive future.

Our Community Involvement

We have an annual toy drive prior to the holiday season where CWMF owners and employees bring in toys for donation to nearby St. Cloud U.S. Marine Corps Rreserve Toys for Tots, whose mission is “to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community.” We love and support their goal “to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.”

 

St. Joseph Food Shelf

It’s so important to help our neighbors in need. CWMF and its employees hold an annual food drive and bring in food and/or money to donate to the St. Joseph Community Food Shelf, located in the parking lot behind the St. Joseph City Administration Building and operated by the Church of St. Joseph. The St. Joseph Community Food Shelf seeks non-perishable food, personal care items and monetary donations throughout the year.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Minnesota

We show our support for Big Brothers and Big Sisters (BBBS) of Central Minnesota by sponsoring their annual Gala/Fundraiser, and by participating in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-based mentoring program, which matches children 7- to 17-years-old who desire a match with a Big. Once they are matched, they can stay matched until age 21. Bigs commit to meet with their Littles for a minimum of one year. Typically, mentees and mentors meet two to four times each month and meeting at least 2-4 hours. The mentoring relationship helps provide a sense of safety and security, emotional support, build social skills, set goals, build positive relationships, improve self-confidence, academic achievement, and future aspirations. Marketing Coordinator Alysia Mick has been a devoted Big since 2019.

 

Place of Hope

Employees donated items of need and helped pack backpacks for children and adults in need through Place of Hope, a multi-faceted outreach program serving people in our community who are in great need of support and services because of homelessness, poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism, and other crises the Central Minnesota community.

CWMF adopted a classroom! We made a donation to the District 742 Local Education & Activities Foundation (LEAF) in support of the 2021 Adopt-A-Classroom Program. Teachers use these funds to purchase classroom supplies that will have a direct impact on all of the students who are in their class this year.

SME Prime Program

The Society for Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Prime Program is preparing the next generation of manufacturing and engineering talent. In a business like ours nothing could be more important. SME Prime “builds cost-effective and tailored manufacturing engineering programs in high schools across the country, providing equipment, curriculum, professional development, scholarships, and STEM-focused extra-curricular activities to students and teachers. CWMF is a proud manufacturing partner (along with many manufacturers supporting more than 60 communities across 22 states) for the SME Prime Program. We support Apollo High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota. We have committed to a three-year financial sponsorship of this program,