Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation

306 South University Avenue Mount Pleasant, MI, 48858 United States

(989) 773-7322

Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for all citizens of Isabella County, now and for generations to come, by attracting and holding permanent endowed funds from a wide range of donors, addressing needs through grant making and providing leadership on key community issues.

Fund Spotlight: A Corner Built on Love

April 24, 2026  /  Liz Conway

In a quiet corner of the Veterans Memorial Library in Mt. Pleasant, small hands reach for colorful books and little voices sound out letters for the very first time. Hand-crafted, Amish-built bookshelves line the walls alongside original artwork, and a framed photograph of a four-year-old girl hangs gently low, right at eye level with the children she never got to grow up beside. This is Kara's Korner, and its story begins not with a ribbon-cutting, but with a mother's love that refused to be silenced by loss.

Kathy Preston is a mother and former special education teacher who believes that reading is the greatest gift you could give a child. When her youngest daughter Kara was killed in an accident at home in 1981 at just four years old, a friend offered a quiet suggestion: do something to keep her memory alive. So in 1985, Kathy channeled her grief into action, using donations from Kara's funeral and the community to gather books, bookshelves, artwork, and even an aquarium, transforming a library corner into a magical sanctuary for young readers. Those original Amish-built bookcases and pieces of that first art contest still stand today, along with Kara's photo, hung purposely low so she can be eye level with every child who comes to read.

"Reading is the most important subject. Having a place for preschoolers to start reading and learn to enjoy it is so important…and Kara has brought that to us." - Kathy Preston

In 2014, Kathy discovered the Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation and found a way to give Kara's Korner the one thing it had always needed: a future. By establishing the Kara's Korner Preschool Library Fund, she ensured the space - and Kara's memory - would live on forever. Today, Kathy still stops in from time to time, and what she finds there never fails to move her: young families reading together, children pointing at pictures, a community of learners gathered in a space built entirely out of love. "It's heartwarming to know her little corner will never die because of the funds at the Foundation," she says. To visit, go to the Veterans Memorial Library or donate to the Kara's Korner Preschool Library Fund at Kara's Korner Preschool Library Fund — Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation. Interested in starting a fund of your own? Reach out to us today.