A new $20 million foundation will start fueling local organizations by December.
The Robert and Eleanor Franke Charitable Foundation will give funds to the Diocese of La Crosse, Mayo Clinic Health System[Franciscan Skemp] and selected nonprofits agencies that meet a set of criteria.
"It's a magnificent gift that will provide thousands for those in need," said Mel Hoffman, the foundation's CEO and executive director.
Robert Franke died in September 2009. His wife died in 2001. The couple had no children.
Before his death, Robert Franke left several bequests to local charities, but the largest share of his estate, $20 million, was left to support the community, Hoffman said.
Every year, the Diocese of La Crosse and Mayo Clinic Health System with each receive a third of the fund's earnings, with the final third to be split up between chosen nonprofit organizations.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
La Crosse Diocese, Mayo Health, recieve $20 million from Franke Foundation
StarTrib: Good Help Shrine; 'It's like heaven touching earth'
Cornfields and towering grain silos line the Minnesota Catholics' approach to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. The smell of manure wafts from nearby dairy farms.continue at Star Tribune
But the parking lot where the motor coach stops is newly graveled, and plans to expand beyond the shrine's small brick church and gift shop are in progress. Because like this group from Hastings, pilgrims are coming.
It's here at this modest shrine in the heart of Wisconsin farm country, where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared more than 150 years ago. Eight months ago, the bishop in nearby Green Bay officially validated the apparitions, making the shrine the first such holy site in the country and one of only a dozen or so in the world.
Since then, regular visitors to the site have grown from a few hundred a year to a few thousand a week. The Hastings group numbers 19.
For the Minnesota pilgrims, a miracle isn't the goal of their two-day trip, though they would welcome one. It's mostly about seeking a closer connection to the Almighty through the mother of Christ.
"It's like heaven touching earth," said Joanne Knoll, "It is very moving, to know she was there."
Wow, the Shrine is really picking up some press!
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