Bill Clinton's new book applauds two Twin Cities sixth-graders, a foundation

Updated: August 29, 2007 - 8:57 PM

The former president, whose new book is due out Tuesday, commends philanthropic programs large and small.

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The latest proof that it pays to be "Minnesota Nice": Two area schoolchildren and a Twin Cities foundation get shout-outs in Bill Clinton's upcoming book, "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World" (Knopf, $24.95).

In the book, which hits bookstores Tuesday, Clinton cites Rachel Floeder of St. Paul and Audrey Feltz of Woodbury, "two Minnesota sixth-graders ... [who] raised $24,000 for victims of [Hurricane] Katrina" by forming the Kids to the Rescue Fund.

Later in the book, the ex-president calls the Page Education Foundation "the best example I've found of passing on the gift," a practice that encourages those who receive help to perform community service in turn.

Alan and Diane Sims Page of Minneapolis started the foundation in 1988 to provide scholarships for Minnesota students of color. The program, which has provided more than $6 million in grants to 3,000 Page Scholars, requires that scholarship recipients spend at least 50 hours per semester mentoring younger children of color.

"In 2006, the scholars helped more than 10,000 children," Clinton writes. "In so doing, they provided young children with both academic support and vivid role models of what they can become if they stay in school and apply themselves. It's a wonderful way of passing on the gift."

For more information on these organizations:

www.kidstotherescue.org and www. page-ed.org.

BILL WARD