NEENAH — Little did the late John "Jack" Keller know when he created the Keller Foundation Ltd., it would one day surpass $20 million in giving.

Year-end reports show that Keller giving did just that in 2008.

More than $15.7 million in funds have been distributed through the John J. and Ethel D. Keller Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region over the past 15 years and, since 1991, when the foundation was created for Keller's wife Ethel's birthday, more than $5.58 million has been gifted by the family's personal giving arm, now known as the J. J. Keller Foundation, Inc.

In 2008 alone, $1.08 million was given through the donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation, and $2.5 million was distributed through the J. J. Keller Foundation. The family recently established a fund at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and looks forward to having a greater impact in the future.

"Passing the $20 million mark came as a surprise to us," Robert Keller, president of the J. J. Keller Foundation board of directors, said in a release. "It wasn't something we set out to do, but I know my parents would be proud of the giving tradition that has been carried on in their memory."

The foundation's mission is basic human needs, such as food, shelter and clothing. Affordable and available mental health care for children was one of the initiatives Ethel Keller was determined to see implemented locally.

She died as the project took hold, but granddaughter Marne Keller-Krikava helped bring it to fruition in 2008.

"Over the years, there were a number of initiatives that have brought us great satisfaction, and near the top of that list is the opening of the Fox Valley Children's Mental Health Center," Keller-Krikava said.