A gift that makes “all the difference in the world”

After the devastating loss of her infant daughter, Marnie, due to a heart defect, Barbara recalls not only her grief, but also the constant worry about paying their medical bills. It was the 1950s and her husband, who had returned from the service, was going to school on the GI Bill. Before having children and moving back to Winona to be close to family, Barbara had been a scrub nurse in California, so she went back to work as a nurses’ aid to help pay the medical bill – a little every week. They had other young children at home, and family members were helping while she worked. She said, “I thought it was going to take us forever to pay that bill.” Already grieving the loss of her little girl, she vividly remembers the heart-wrenching experience of a young child being brought into the hospital after a tragic accident. “I just didn’t know how I could keep doing it. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through.” Shortly after, when she went in to make another payment, she recalls the cashier telling her that the bill had been taken care of. “I couldn’t believe it. I kept asking, how can that be?” She remembers it having something to do with the Miller family. “It was such a blessing, such a complete blessing. Not having to work and leave my family was such a blessing for me. It would have taken us years to pay off that debt. And having my husband be able to finish school and become a teacher made all the difference in the world.” Barbara has never forgotten that experience. And that is why she is paying it forward. She and her husband have been giving to the Winona Health Foundation since 1987. “Just think about what that gift did for me. It not only affected my life; it affected my children’s lives,” she said. “Just think of all the years this fund has been helping people. It’s enviable to have this in our community. It shows how caring and generous a community we live in when people are willing to help others who may be in a dark place.” If you are interested in helping another when they may need it most, we gratefully welcome your gift to the Winona Health Foundation’s Ben & Adith Miller Patient Care Fund.

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