Kevin Zsori
Practically everyone who lives in the Milwaukee area has heard of Candy Cane Lane. It’s the extraordinary display of Christmas decorations — a fabulous light show — that spans several blocks in a West Allis neighborhood.
Southwest Branch Manager Kevin Zsori has been involved with the fundraising aspect of Candy Cane Lane since he joined North Shore Bank in 2005. There is no charge to walk or drive through the decked-out neighborhood, but donations are accepted to support the MACC Fund, which is Milwaukee Athletes Against Childhood Cancer.
“I count the money — one or two bags every weekday and six or seven bags every Monday,” he says. “Our goal every year is to break $100,000. Last year we took in $103,000, and this year we’ve reached $66,000 as of this morning (Thursday, Dec. 21).”
Monthlong campaign requires five months of planning
Although contributions are accepted from the day after Thanksgiving through the day after Christmas, planning the fundraiser starts in July. “We have one meeting in July and August and two a month thereafter,” Kevin says.
Kevin recruited Southwest branch business customer Scott Lindberg from American Website to contribute his talents this year. Scott set up a website that enables people to donate online: www.candycanelanewi.com. It includes directions and a calendar noting which sponsoring organizations provide nightly volunteers who help collect money. Our Seymour Savings appeared with the Milwaukee Brewers sausages on mascot night.
Rotary involvement offers more volunteer opportunities
Also a Rotary Club member, Kevin joins others in his chapter who deliver food to needy area families. “I usually can find time to get bags of groceries to seven families just before Thanksgiving,” he says.
And he is among Rotarians who coordinate food collected by Boy Scout troops, repacking donated items in boxes and loading them on pallets for final sorting and distribution.
Kevin sits on a Rotary committee that provides judges for local contests. “Staff members of a local nursing home had a pie-baking contest,” he explains, and he helped pick the winners. Not all judging offers such delectable rewards.
Touching kids’ lives means the most
Involvement with Candy Cane Lane and the MACC fund is closest to Kevin’s heart, but he also enjoys the one-on-one contact of Rotary’s Reading Buddies program. “I spend a half-hour every Monday with my buddy. Preston is in first grade, and he doesn’t have a male figure in his life right now. I know how much he looks forward to our time together.”
As husband to Nicole and father to three sons — Brady, 7; Nathan, 4; and 19-month-old Dustin — it’s not always easy or convenient for Kevin to find time for volunteering. His eight years in the military helped him master self-discipline, so he finds ways to make it happen.
Another lesson Kevin learned in the military relates to the strength of group effort. “I can’t find a cure for cancer on my own,” he says.
“The people I interact with in the MACC Fund and Rotary are involved for the right reasons — out of care and compassion. When you help great causes like these, it really makes you look at your own life and appreciate the little things you sometimes take for granted.”
“The best reward of all is seeing kids smiling,” he says.