“Best Buddies envisions a world where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are so successfully integrated into schools, workplaces and communities that its current efforts and services will be unnecessary. Until that vision becomes a reality, we look to continue to educate students, community members, corporations and employers about the emotional, functional, and natural needs and abilities of people with IDD.”

~Best Buddies International

During a 2003 fundraising campaign in which donations to the South Madison Community Foundation were matched $2 for $1 by Lilly Endowment, Dr. Robert Begley and Mrs. Linda Begley donated $10,000 to open a fund to benefit South Madison County’s future.

What do you do when you love all your small town has to offer? How do you choose just one cause to support?

A Named Bright Future Fund at South Madison Community Foundation is a way to express your priorities your community within the broad scope of the Foundation’s grant-making. In creating a Named Fund, a donor is asked to write a statement of priorities that is included as an exhibit of the Fund Agreement.

When designing a charitable endowment to benefit your community, it’s practically impossible to imagine an unknown future. What happens if a benefitting organization changes significantly, or closes its doors?

Conversing with Margaret Comarella about her neighbors Joe and Myrtle Montgomery has a way of erasing time.

Local companies are the backbone of community. They shore up our civic organizations, support our sport teams, and provide a stable living for generations of workers. Their legacy is broad and deep. In the case of the Fredericks, Inc./Markleville Lumber Co., their legacy is also perpetual, as ongoing grants from their charitable fund will "support local" every year, forever.