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Upon her death at the age of 91, a significant portion of Alice E. Wells’ wealth was to be distributed among a handful of charitable organizations and foundations.

At least one of them had no idea it was coming. That’s why it was such a delightful surprise when the Southwest Iowa Educational Foundation received an unexpected and generous gift of $730,000.

It was the largest gift in the scholarship-based organization’s history according to founding member, Frank Pechacek. It’s even more remarkable considering Wells had never met nor spoken with either him or any current board member about the possibility of such a gift prior to her passing on March 5, 2017.

“We’re not aware of any contact with our organization,” he said. “And we were never given an indication this was happening, so we were pretty elated. It’s a very nice scholarship and a very nice thing to do that will help us help more young people.”

SWIEF Board President, Tori Christie, echoed his sentiments.