We all recall some book from our childhood that inspired our dreams and imagination - usually one we had picked for ourselves. With this in mind, the Winona Community Foundation is excited to announce its newest fund - Marie's Book Fund. This Fund was created by two lovers of books, from the Twin Cities with their hearts in southeastern Minnesota, in the fall of 2007, to honor the memory of teacher Marie Mahle of Eitzen, MN. These advisors, met Marie while doing research for a book on historic churches. In making inquiries in the Houston area, they were told they must meet Marie. Marie was a woman who lived simply yet inspired many during her life with her passionate joy of learning and books. In their encounters with Marie a dream was born, to provide books for children, but with the caveat that the children could pick the books themselves. "It is so key that the child have the opportunity to choose what book piques their interest," notes the fund advisor, "doing so gives them ownership and confidence, which makes the impact of the gift much greater and we wanted to ensure what we did to honor Marie was somehow delivered with this in mind." After discussions with the Literacy Council and other nonprofits in the Twin Cities, the fund advisors were directed to the Winona Community Foundation. These two friends longed to find something to do to honor Marie's memory after her death this past January. After the devastating flood in the region, they knew they had found their inspiration to connect their dream to reality, and WCF could be that connector. Creating a field-of-interest fund with WCF, an agreement was drawn up to take charitable donations for the purpose described above. "This is heart of what WCF can do," notes foundation president Lisa Fakler, "we are dream brokers." Fakler refers to being the connector between community needs and the dreams of donors to make an impact for the long-term. WCF does not deliver the program it self, rather, they work with area expertise to do so. In the case of Marie's Book Fund, WCF is partnering with The Book Shelf of Winona to assist with connecting the children with book options. December 1 --WCF staff will be present (2:-5:00pm) at the Book Shelf to hand out vouchers to children to pick out at book. December 8 –Book Shelf and WCF staff will be in Rushford (2:00-5:00pm) for Santa’s Workshop. Marie was a person who didn't care for a lot of attention in answer to questions about this inspiring woman. Perhaps the real story here is how when we are touched by someone's passion, it ignites an equal passion in us and a desire to share that with others and make a contribution to our society – in this case, one book at a time. For information contact the Winona Community Foundation at 507-454-6511 or the Book Shelf at 474-1880. Contact: Deb Leaf, Grants Program Coordinator Winona Community Foundation 51 E 4th St, Suite 314, Winona, MN 55987 507-454-6511 or grantwcf@hbci.com