WAUPACA — In the arsenal for battling memory loss, Christie Gonwa and the Bethany Home of Waupaca are adding interesting rocks and pictures of farm scenes.

The simple items are memory cues to activate the minds of residents with moderate memory loss in the "Meeting of the Minds" program. The pictures, used in guided storytelling sessions, have helped retired farmers recall events from growing up on the farm and the rocks brought back details for a former archeologist. They also engage in stretches and other physical exercise.

Bethany soon will be extending the program to members of the Waupaca community as part of its $10,000 grant from the Basic Needs Giving Partnership Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, one of four grants totaling $81,720 that were awarded this spring.

"By working with those brain exercises, we've been proving people advance more slowly with their impairments," said Gonwa, director of mission advancement at Bethany. The goal of opening the Meeting of the Minds sessions to people still living in their homes is to help them stay there longer and give family members a better understanding and tools to fight the memory loss.

The $10,000 Community Foundation grant was "huge," she said. "It's really helping us get this program established."

Bethany's grant also will support a shopping and errand service in the Waupaca community, also designed to help elderly people remain in their homes.

The Basic Needs Giving Partnership Fund — supported by the U.S. Oil Open Fund for Basic Needs within the Community Foundation and the J. J. Keller Foundation and other community partners — assists established nonprofit agencies with successful programs that address root causes of poverty.

Nearly all of the Basic Needs grant money comes from the former U.S. Oil Co. Inc.'s (now U.S. Venture Inc.) U.S. Oil Open golf outing and a related gift from the J. J. Keller Foundation. The 25th annual U.S. Oil Open is set for Aug. 11 at five area golf courses and features hall-of-famers Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez. This year's fundraising goal is $1.75 million.

Other grants awarded were:

• Best Friends of Neenah-Menasha: General operating support for the one-to-one mentoring programs that form the core of this organization's mission. $15,000.
• Community Clothes Closet: Additional staffing to serve the increasing number of clients and provide high-quality service to help people maintain their dignity and improve their lives. $15,000.
• Salvation Army-Appleton and Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin's Community Gardens Partnership: A collaborative pilot program focused on changing the nature of food delivery systems and increasing food security for the low-income population using the Salvation Army and St. Joseph Food Program services. $41,720.