Frugal Frozen Food Worker Leaves $2.3 Million to 10 Charities

December 3, 2011; Source: Magic Valley Times News | Each of 10 Idaho nonprofits has received a donation of $237,000 from the estate of Norah Andersen, 87, a woman who worked in a frozen food factory and lived in a double-wide trailer. Andersen, who died in September, was a child of the depression and was reportedly frugal her whole life. Saving and investing resulted in a nest egg of $2.3 million. The ten charities that received the money say that they had no idea it was coming. The groups included a church, a homeless shelter, a transitional housing facility, and a program that provides housing for children in child protective services cases. A number of the groups were so taken by surprise that they have not yet made decisions about where the money will go.—Ruth McCambridge