Christa Hinkelmann stands next to some of the books that were purchased with a donation her son, Christoph, made to the Margaret Beeks Elementary School library. He said he wanted to give back to his alma mater in honor of his mother who volunteered at the school when his was a student there in the mid 70s.
Margret Beeks Elementary School recently received a sizable donation to purchase books for its library from a former Beeks student, Christoph Hinkelmann.
He is now a professor at Penn State. He contacted librarian Rhonda Burch this past spring and told her he would like to make a donation in honor of his mother, Christa Hinkelmann, who volunteered at Beeks when he attended (between 1975-1980).
“I was able to purchase a wide variety of books, and the students are so excited. I placed a bookplate in the front of each book, so students would know the book was a donation in honor of Christa Hinkelmann,” Burch wrote in an email.
Recently Mrs. Hinkelmann visited our school to see the books and students.
“Our students showered her with thank you cards and she was able to see all the books we were able to purchase,” Burch wrote.
Burch said that the heart-warming part of the story could be felt through an email from Christoph Hinkelmann.
“When I had first contacted you in May, she had not been doing very well health-wise for more than two years, and I had hoped that this would get her to remember all the positive things she has done in her life (such as volunteering in the Beeks library when I was going there)—she’s made quite a bit of progress over the Summer and is close to being back to her old self,” he wrote.
Burch said that it is such a positive story, and a gift that will leave a lasting legacy for so many students.