Lily's Lunches at WID

An inspiring show of support from the men and women who built UW’s premier research facility.

On the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, men and women from Findorff-Mortenson and their  subcontractors built a world-class research facility, the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. This special place will be home to amazing, meaningful research that will benefit people all around the world.

Findorff-Mortenson is a joint venture of J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. of Madison, and M.A. Mortenson Company of Minneapolis. Together, the firms were the project’s general contractor. These hardworking people didn’t just create an awesome building. They invested in the research itself.

Every month during construction, workers at the jobsite gathered for a “Lily’s Lunch.” Food from area restaurants was provided by the contractors, and workers were invited to throw $5 into the hard hat as a donation. Whatever they contributed was matched by Findorff-Mortenson, with all proceeds going directly to Lily’s Fund at the UW Foundation.

Over time, lots of Lily’s Lunches added up to one major contribution to vital epilepsy research.

Read this letter in The Capital Times from October 11, 2010.