12 Days of AF: Milwaukee Chapter

Wisconsin has experienced a lot over the last year, from Covid restrictions to protests and riots to most recently watching a community come together to heal after a tragedy. However, through all of that, AF-Milwaukee has remained steadfast in our mission to build vibrant communities through collaborative relationships with like-minded entities. 

Covid required our chapter to go virtual for the first part of the year, which was worrisome as many were getting “Zoom fatigue”. However, that didn’t stop almost 40 of the 95 registered individuals hopping on to view a screening and Q&A discussion with Jason Riley on the Common Sense in a Senseless World documentary. Our members care about the principles that Thomas Sowell advocates for. Many asked for a recording of the event as well. 

When we were finally able to gather in person again, there was no better kick-off event than our “How I built My Business” series. We even modified it to better fit current events, making it “Running a Business during a Pandemic”. Our speaker, Mike Doble, is the owner of Explorium Brewpub, which has two locations in southeastern Wisconsin. He explained staffing issues he faced, having to follow local restrictions, and touched on funding to help stay afloat. We saw both old and new faces excited for this discussion and to learn more about AF. 

Other successful events included our traditional Second Amendment event. This year, we modified it to do clay shooting rather than at an indoor range. We also hosted former Lt. Governor of Wisconsin, Rebecca Kleefisch, not long before she announced her bid for Governor, to discuss the impacts of cancel culture and free speech in today’s society. 

In 2022, we are looking forward to continuing to gather in person and increase our direct involvement with the community. Our chapter has decided to focus on poverty and homelessness in Milwaukee as a focus point. We plan to host events that shed light on the issue and encourage our members and friends to go directly get involved through volunteering and advocacy opportunities. We are hoping with this topic, we will be able to drastically expand our audience base and have a real impact in the city.