A guy from Iowa saved $3 million and used it to fund scholarships for 33 strangers to attend college.

Dale Schroeder, a modest carpenter, spent 67 years working for the same company. During his lifetime, his friends thought that he didn’t have a lot under his name.

He was a simple man.

He actually only had two pairs of jeans—one for church and the other for work—and a beat-up Chevrolet pickup, but somehow, after he passed away in 2005, the thrifty worker was able to fund 33 students’ college tuition.

He had $3 million in savings, which he had set up specifically for one reason, but nobody around him knew it.

He grew up in a humble home.

Dale was raised in a low-income home and was never able to enroll in college. He also never got married and never had kids. Dale spoke with his buddy and attorney Steve Nielsen just before he died in 2005 to discuss what would happen to his life savings.

“He wanted to help kids that were like him that probably wouldn’t have an opportunity to go to college,” Steve shared. “I said, ‘How much are we talking about, Dale?’ And he said, ‘Oh, just shy of $3 million.’ I nearly fell out of my chair.”

Steve didn’t know he had that much.

Future teachers, physicians, and therapists were able to pursue their academic ambitions, thanks to Dale’s support.

The money has finally run out after 14 years. The 33 recipients, who refer to themselves as “Dale’s Kids,” are committed to helping others, just as Dale would have wanted them to.

Dale must be so proud of them.

“All we ask is that you pay it forward,” Steve remarked. “You can’t pay it back because Dale’s gone. But you can remember him and you can emulate him.”

Recently, the scholarship recipients for Dale’s Kids gathered around the man’s old lunchbox to share stories about how he influenced their lives despite the fact that they never had the opportunity to meet him in person.

One of them was Kira Conrad.

Kira wanted to be a therapist, but she was aware that it would be difficult given her limited resources. She intended to inform her friends and family that she wouldn’t be able to finance college at her high school graduation celebration.

But before that could happen, she got a call that would permanently alter the course of her life. She received a call from Steve informing her that Dale’s scholarship fund will pay her $80,000 in tuition.

She was relieved.

“I broke down into tears immediately,” Kira recalled. “For a man that would never meet me, to give me basically a full ride to college, that’s incredible. That doesn’t happen.”

Nobody could have predicted what Dale was able to do for these kids. His wonderful legacy will undoubtedly endure forever, and perhaps his “kids” will follow through on their promise to spread goodwill in the manner that he would have desired.

What an inspiring person Dale truly was.

Check out the video below to see more of this touching story.

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Source: Positive Outlooks