SCHEDULE 14A
                                 (Rule 14a-101)

                     INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT

                            SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
           Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities
                    Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No.     )

Filed by the registrant [X]
Filed by a party other than the registrant [  ]

Check the appropriate box:
[  ] Preliminary Proxy Statement     [ ] Confidential, for use of the Commission
                                         Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))
[  ] Definitive Proxy Statement
[  ] Definitive Additional Materials
[X] Soliciting Material pursuant to Rule 14a-12

                              Wells Financial Corp.
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                (Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)


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    (Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant)

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         pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 0-11.  (set forth the amount on which the
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  [ ]    Fee paid previously with preliminary materials.

  [ ]    Check  box  if any part of the fee is offset as  provided  by  Exchange
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                       [Wells Financial Corp. Letterhead]

February 26, 2001

Dear Fellow Stockholders:

         Within a few weeks you will be  receiving  the 2000  Annual  Report and
Proxy  Statement of Wells  Financial  Corp.  (the "Company") for our 2001 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders.  In the meantime,  you may also receive proxy materials
from a dissident  stockholder  group which calls itself the PL Capital Group. PL
Capital  Group wants you to elect one of its hand picked  nominees to one of the
two board seats to be elected at the Annual Meeting. In addition, the PL Capital
Group has announced  that it will solicit  votes for a  non-binding  stockholder
resolution calling for the sale of your Company to the highest bidder.

         The PL Capital Group is a group of  professional  investors  whose sole
purpose,  in our view,  is to take a position in your  Company  and  immediately
attempt  to  force  the sale of the  Company  in order  to  maximize  their  own
short-term  gain.  You  should  know that the PL  Capital  Group's  nominee  for
election  to your  Board is a lawyer  who has owned 100  shares of our stock for
approximately one month.

         The PL Capital Group began purchasing our stock in June 2000. Beginning
in July of last  year,  current  and former  members of the PL Capital  Group on
several  occasions  expressed  an interest in  pursuing  an  acquisition  of the
Company. It is important for you to know that prior to rejecting their proposal,
we obtained an independent  valuation of our Company from a national  investment
banking firm with  expertise  in the  valuation  of savings  institutions  which
indicated  that the  proposed  purchase  price  for the  Company  was  below the
Company's  fair value on a sale of control basis.  We rejected  their  overtures
because  their  proposed  purchase  price  for  the  Company,   even  though  it
potentially  represented  a premium  over the  trading  price of our stock,  was
inadequate based on the valuation analysis. We have always been sensitive to the
desire  of  stockholders  to  maximize  stockholder  value.  We do not  believe,
however,  that this goal will best be  served by  selling  your  Company  for an
inadequate price, even if the price offered  represents a premium to the current
trading price of our stock.

         DO NOT VOTE THE WHITE PROXY CARD. If you receive a WHITE proxy card and
other proxy  material from the PL Capital  Group,  we ask that you discard them.
When you receive our Annual  Report and Proxy  Material,  please sign,  date and
return the TAN proxy  card.  We ask that you vote the  Company's  TAN proxy card
only.

         If you have any questions, please call our chief financial officer, Jim
Moll, or me at (507) 553- 3151. We thank you for your continued support.

                                             Sincerely,


                                             /s/Lawrence H. Kruse
                                             -----------------------------------
                                             Lawrence H. Kruse
                                             President and Chairman of the Board


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As in past  years,  we will be mailing our Proxy  Statement  and our 2000 Annual
Report to all stockholders  entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting.  We urge you
to read the Proxy  Statement when it becomes  available  because it will contain
important information.  You will also be able to obtain our Proxy Statement free
of charge at the website maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at
www.sec.gov.

Each of the  Company's  directors  may be  deemed to be a  "participant"  in the
Company's  solicitation  of  proxies  to be used at the  Annual  Meeting  or any
adjournment thereof. The Company's board of directors is composed of Lawrence H.
Kruse, Gerald D. Bastain,  Richard Meuller, David Buesing, Randel I. Bichler and
Dale E. Stallkamp. Collectively, the directors of the Company beneficially owned
approximately 15.6% of the Company's common stock at February 26, 2001.
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