A Memorial that Gives Back to the Community
Steven Witmer was a Teacher Librarian with the Saydel Community School District in Des Moines, Iowa, until he succumbed to Stage IV Colon Cancer on July 25, 2024. Steven had a passion for reading, exciting children about reading, teaching the students about the library, and having the students further develop their reading skills through selecting books that they wanted to read. Steven wanted the students, as well as adults, to “Stay Curious” and keep on learning.
When he was starting to go on disability in 2024 due to the cancer’s advanced progress, Steven started a GoFundMe campaign called “Books for Students” to raise money so that he could purchase a book for every student in the district’s elementary school. Steven had this goal as it was important to him “. . . to get books into the hands of students and encouraging reading.” And Steven was more than successful in achieving his goals with his campaign and was able to raise more than his goal amount. With the extra money raised, Steven was able to help three Iowa schools that had little funding for their school libraries’ needs.
In Steven’s 2024 GoFundMe campaign, he stated, “This may be my last opportunity to serve my students in this way. . .” This Memorial campaign is to raise money for an endowment to continue Steven’s vision, love of reading, and his legacy of creating lifetime readers alive for many years to come. I ask you to help reach the goal amount of this Memorial campaign for Steven Witmer, Teacher Librarian. Any amount raised over the set goal will be added to the endowment to further keep Steven’s legacy alive.
Thank you for your kindness and generosity.
Linda Green-Witmer, Steven Witmer’s wife
Stay Curious 
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