A year ago, August, Dave Fuss lost his job driving a truck for a small company in west Michigan. His wife, Gerrie, was still working in the local school cafeteria, but it was hard for Dave to find work, and the price of everything was rising. The Fusses were at risk of joining the millions of Americans who have lost their homes in recent years. Then Dave and Gerrie received a timely gift--$7,000, a legacy  from their neighbors Ish and Arlene Hatch, who died in an accident. "It really made a difference when we were meeting difficulty ."says Dave. But the Fusses weren't the only folks in Alto and the neighboring town of Lowell to receive unexpected legacy from the Hatches. Dozens of other families were touched by what the Hatches had done. In some cases, it was a few thousand dollars; in others, it was more than $100,000. It surprised nearly everyone that the Hatches had so much money, more than $3 million--they were an elderly couple who lived in an old house on what was left of the family farm. Children of the Great Depression, Ish and Arlene were known for their habit of saving. They preferred comparison shopping and would go from store to store, checking prices before making a new purchase. Through the years, the Hatches paid for local children to attend summer camps when their parents couldn't afford it. "Ish and Arlene never asked if you needed anything," says their friend Sandy Van Weelden, "They could see things they could do to make you happier, and they would do them." Even more extraordinary was that the Hatches gave away their farmland. It was the Hatches' wish that their legacy--a legacy of kindness as much as one of dollars and cents--should enrich the whole community and last for generations to come. Neighbors helping neighbors--that was Ish and Arlene Hatch's story. What can we learn about the Hatches?
They had their children during the Great Depression. They left the old house to live on their family farm. They gave away their possessions to their neighbors. They helped their neighbors to find jobs.