Arne and Ivy Vainio

Arne and Ivy Vainio understand the importance of education. They also understand the financial obstacles facing young people pursuing university degrees. That’s why they’ve included the UW-Superior Foundation in their will. Arne and Ivy have included a $10,000 gift to UW-Superior that will set up a scholarship fund for students of color.

“Even though we have a comfortable life now, it didn’t start out that way,” Arne said. “We both grew up economically disadvantaged and struggled financially to get through school. It was an easy decision to include education in our will.”

Ivy and Arne both work in environments where education is important. Ivy is a multicultural student services specialist at UW-Superior, helping students succeed in obtaining their degrees. Arne is a family practice physician at Min-No-Aya-Win Clinic on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Cloquet, Minn.

“Traditionally, Native Americans believe the things we do today affect the next seven generations. We want to honor our beliefs,” Ivy said.

“Our hope is that we would be able to give back by providing scholarship money for students of color at UW-Superior,” she added. “We also want to instill in our 3-year-old son, Jacob, a sense of appreciation for what we’ve been given and the deep satisfaction that comes from giving.”