COUNTDOWN: THE YEAR’S MAJOR WINONA NEWS
No. 12: Generosity in tough times.
People acted on their best instincts as the pandemic upset routines in ways that no one could have foreseen. Amy Jo Marks found hundreds of Winonans donating peanut butter, jelly and bread for her Blooming Grounds coffeeshop to make sandwiches for school children. She had 500 responses before the first sandwich was made. At Merchants Bank, executives crossed fingers crossed their annual Days of Giving fund drive wouldn’t fizzle. At $235,500, the drive ended up only a bit short of its record. There were dozens if gestures for front-line health workers. Among them: St. Charles Bakery sent dozens of doughnuts to the Winona hospital. The Hy-Vee grocery store earmarked $2 from every ribs sale to the hospital.
Marks. PBJs by the hundred.