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Local family establishes The Starfish Fund to benefit Allen Dale students

Local family establishes The Starfish Fund to benefit Allen Dale students

An anonymous local family has created an endowment to benefit Allen Dale Elementary students for years to come.

Managed by Four Way Community Foundation, this generous gift of $25,000 will be used to purchase coats, shoes, books, and reading incentives for students. 

a student puts a token into a book vending machine

A portion of the annual distribution will be used to replenish the school's book vending machine. 

“The family that created The Starfish Fund heard about our recently-established Fay Chen Spears Fund for students at Highland Elementary School, and they contacted us to develop a fund for the school closest to their own hearts,” stated Four Way Community Foundation Board President Greg Fishwick.    

“This incredible donation will provide so much for students at
Allen Dale for many years to come," Principal Jake Musser says. "Thank you to this anonymous family for their generosity and kindness. The entire Allen Dale community is extremely grateful
for this gift that will benefit so many of our students.”

The endowment was named The Starfish Fund, inspired by the parable about helping those we can, even if we cannot help everyone.

Endowments grow over time, and thanks to this generous gift,
the annual distribution is predicted to be around $1,250. After 20 years, the total given to Allen Dale will be equal to the principal
gift, which will still be there, providing warm shoes and coats to students who need them.