Support Odyssey

If you would like to mail your gift, please send a check made payable to UW Foundation and indicate which fund you are supporting in the memo line:

Mail to:
UW Foundation
US Bank Lockbox 78807
Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807

To set up monthly donations to Odyssey,  click on any of the links above to support the Odyssey Project Fund, the Friends of Odyssey Family Fund, the Odyssey Beyond Bars Fund, or the Odyssey Future Fund.

University of Wisconsin Foundation’s Tax ID number is: 39-0743975. Please be sure to specify which fund you would like your donation to be applied to for any gifts made to UW Foundation.

Donate Part of a Meal

We serve meals to roughly 90 people each Wednesday night, September through May. Since the pandemic, we have switched to ordering class meals from licensed kitchens in order to ensure the safety of our students and their families. However, we continue to supplement these meals with fresh vegetables, fruits, drinks, etc. Items that we could use include: plastic containers to send home leftovers with our students, napkins, plastic forks/spoons, paper plates (the sturdier the better) and bowls, plastic cups (9 oz and 16 oz), Ziploc bags (sandwich and gallon), and paper towels. If you’d be interested in helping supply these add-ons for a Wednesday evening meal, please let us know! We also seek non-perishable snacks for tutoring nights.

Invite us to Speak to your Group

Odyssey depends on grassroots support! Volunteers can help us to spread the word by inviting us to speak to a business, church, service club, or group of friends. Whenever possible we invite an Odyssey student to attend and to share their own story.

Tutor Adult Students / Alumni

Odyssey hosts tutoring sessions on Monday and Tuesday evenings in the UW South Madison Partnership classroom but can sometimes make tutoring connections with students at other times. We seek tutors with skills in writing/ literacy, math, science, foreign language, and English as a Second Language.

Childcare/ Child Enrichment

Volunteers care for young children and work with older children (providing homework help, playing games, or doing crafts) on Tuesday evenings when parents attend tutoring at the UW South Madison Partnership classroom.

Fulfill wish lists

For Odyssey Junior (enrichment classes for the children of Odyssey students and alumni), we can use art supplies, puzzles, games, notebooks, children’s books, etc. We have compiled these items into one “Wish List” on Amazon. We also could use gift cards for families (gas cards, dept stores like Target, grocery stores) to use as prizes and for emergencies.

Host a Benefit

Odyssey supporters have hosted benefits in their homes and other community spaces, inviting friends to learn about our program, meet students, and support Odyssey. Program staff can help with invitations and other logistics.

Professional Services for Students

We can use pro bono services from attorneys, physicians/dentists, social workers, and others, to help students facing legal, medical, housing, and other challenges.

Research Support

Volunteers can help to research a variety of topics including potential funders and programmatic ideas.

Administrative Support

We can sometimes use help with typing, mailings, and other administrative tasks in our office at 2238 S. Park St.

Photography or Videography

Help to capture photographs and/or video, especially from the Odyssey and Odyssey Junior classrooms on Wednesday evenings at Villager Mall, 2238 S. Park St.

Donate via your IRA

Those who receive an IRA may satisfy their required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year and reduce their taxable income by donating to the UW Odyssey Project! Contact your IRA plan administrator for help setting this up. The IRA funds can be directly transferred to either the Odyssey Project Fund or the Friends of Odyssey Family Fund. Please make sure to specify which fund you would like to support when initiating this process. To make an IRA charitable rollover gift, contact your IRA custodian and request that an amount be transferred directly to the UW Odyssey Project. For support, please call Jenny Pressman at 608-287-8216, or contact your IRA plan administrator or financial advisor.

Have other ideas for supporting Odyssey students? Please fill out the volunteer interest form or contact Em Azad, Odyssey Program Manager, at emily.azad@wisc.edu or 608-262-0763.