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A Special Needs Teacher Passed Away and Left $1 Million to Her School
A woman named Genevieve Via Cava was a longtime special needs teacher in Dumont, New Jersey, just outside Manhattan.
She lived well into her late 80s before passing away back in 2011. And we're hearing about her now because of something pretty amazing she did before she died.
About 10 years ago, she was talking to the superintendent of her school district. And she told him she wanted to donate a MILLION DOLLARS to the school.
He actually laughed when she said it, because he thought it was a joke. But it turns out she wasn't joking. Before she passed away, she earmarked a million dollars in her will to set up a scholarship for special needs students.
Starting next year, one special needs student who wants to go to college or attend a trade school will be eligible for a $25,000 scholarship. And there's enough money in the trust to keep giving out scholarships for another 40 years.
It's not clear how Genevieve ended up with so much money. Her husband passed away in 1998, and we don't know what he did for work.
But her friends say she just liked saving more than spending, partly because she lived through the Depression. One of them asked her a while back what she was saving up for. And it turns out THIS was it.