Two big donations to help students here, across Mo.

Missouri has many examples of successful people, and we enjoy highlighting these individuals. We also want to highlight those who go beyond personal success to and generously share their success to benefit the community. Charles Stamp, Jr., and Richard Kinder are two such people.

Stamp's $750,000 donation made the creation of the Catapult Creative House possible. Located at 612 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri State University's creative arts and industries incubator was dedicated on Friday. Stamp, an alumnus of the university, who also holds the school's Distinguished Alumni Merit Award, was the honorary guest -- a fitting distinction for someone who reached back to help those benefiting from the educational system that helped him achieve the success he now enjoys. Part of that success is his role as vice president of public affairs worldwide at Deere & Company.

Cape Girardeau native Kinder demonstrated kindness with a $25 million donation to the University of Missouri through the Kinder Foundation. The funds are earmarked for something near and dear to the alumna's heart: it establishes the Kinder Institute, which is committed to the teaching of the U.S. Constitution.

"We hope to really make this Kinder Institute a real center for studying constitutional democracy, the founding of the country, and it's really going to help at both the undergraduate and graduate level," Kinder said in a recent interview.

Many people complain that today's young people have little to no knowledge about America's founding, including her founding documents. This additional area of study will help shore that up and perhaps create knowledge and appreciate for our heritage.

"The whole genesis of it was that I felt that we're just not giving enough attention in universities today to what really makes America an exceptional country," Kinder said.

The Kinder Institute offers a wide range of opportunities, including grants, internships in Washington, D.C., postdoctoral fellowships, a minor in American constitutional democracy and more.

This is not the first time Kinder has donated to the Missouri's education. In 2010, he gave $1 million to the Cape Girardeau Public Schools Foundation to improve the performance hall at Central High School that bears his name.

We extend thanks to both Stamp and Kinder. Donating to educational causes, in particular, makes all of us richer.