The announcement of the $15,000 annual grant to three school districts, including Blue Earth Area, United South Central and Maple River, was made last Wednesday morning. Pictured above, left to right, are: Tim Penny, SMIF president and CEO; Mandy Fletcher, BEA superintendent; Tami and Mike Hoffman.

Three school districts in the area received an early Christmas present last week, which will help with their efforts to create more literacy programming for lower grades in their elementary schools.

At a special press conference at Blue Earth Area Schools this past Wednesday morning, it was announced that Mike and Tamara Hoffman have provided a $1 million endowment which will provide a $15,000 grant­ – each year – to Blue Earth Area Schools, United South Central Schools in Wells and Maple River Schools in Mapleton.

It will be named the Mitchel Perrizo Jr. Leaders are Readers Fund, named after Mike Hoffman’s uncle, Mitch Perrizo, and will be administered by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

“Tami and I are pleased to be able to start this fund to continue my uncle’s memory and legacy,” Hoffman, retired chairman and CEO of the Toro Company, said. “While life took him many places around the world, Uncle Mitch never forgot his roots in rural Southern Minnesota or his love of reading. Whether you were five or fifty, one of the first questions Uncle Mitch would ask you is, ‘What have you been reading lately?’ He would repeatedly send books to family members and friends, young and old, to encourage them to read more, especially the classics.”

Mitch Perrizo Jr. was raised on a farm in the Delavan area. He devoted his life to public service as a state legislator at an early age, then, through military service during World War II, followed by a career in various military and diplomatic roles.

Mitch Perrizo Jr. has been the subject of recent stories in the Faribault County Register. His family’s farm was featured in the Century Farms magazine back in October, and his service to his country in World War II was one of the stories in this past November’s Our Heroes magazine.

The Mitchel Perrizo Jr. Leaders are Readers Fund will support investments in elementary teachers, primarily Kindergarten through third grade, allowing them to master literacy fundamentals to transform student learning into a lifetime love of reading and literacy success, according to information from a press release.

“The Mitchel Perrizo Jr. Leaders are Readers Fund is the perfect example of how people can leave a legacy in their communities that they care about in a really creative and focused way,” said Alissa Oeltjenbruns, SMIF’s philanthropy officer. “This fund will benefit teachers and children in these school districts for years to come, thanks to Mike and Tami Hoffman’s generosity.”

SMIF’s president and CEO, Tim Penny, related he has had a personal relationship with Mitch Perrizo Jr. over the years.

“During my political years and beyond, Mitch Perrizo was a valued mentor in my life,” Penny said. “That makes me especially proud and honored to partner with Mike and Tami Hoffman and the Mitch Perrizo Jr. Leaders are Readers Fund to elevate early literacy investments in this region to new levels.”

Penny’s personal remembrances of Perrizo included visiting with him shortly after Penny was elected to Congress, in 1982.

“He told me I would do fine,” Penny recalls. “He said I would need to know a lot about international relations, and asked me if there was some area I needed help with. I said I didn’t know a lot about the Middle East. A few days later I received two books from Mitch, all about the Middle East.”

Penny explained that the three schools benefitting from the fund will need to apply for the up to $15,000 grant each year, detailing what they will use the money for. If one of the schools does not apply one year, or applies for an amount less than $15,000, the extra funds would be able to be used by the other schools.

“We tried very hard to keep this application process as simple as possible,” Penny said at the press conference. “The funds can be used one way one year, and a totally different way the next year.”

Blue Earth Area School District superintendent Mandy Fletcher expressed deep gratitude for this special gift.

“Blue Earth Area Schools is incredibly fortunate to have such a generous donor and supporter of literacy education. We are deeply humbled to be a recipient of The Mitchel Perrizo Jr. Leaders are Readers Fund, and pledge to honor his memory and love of reading with these dollars,” Fletcher said. “Thank you to Mike and Tami Hoffman for the creation of this fund and opportunity,”

Hoffman shared another few thoughts about his uncle, who passed away almost exactly 10 years ago, on Dec. 3, 2011, at the age of 94.

“Mitch had such a wonderful life of service, we are happy to do this in honor of my uncle,” Hoffman said. “I remember visiting him just before he died, along with my 14-year old son, Matthew. Mitch, of course had to pause a minute or two, and then ask Matthew, ‘So, what have you been reading lately?”

“That desire to instill the love of reading in young people will now be kept alive for many, many years to come,” Hoffman concluded.