Live Like Madison earns $10,000 grant

Cheris Hodges, The Laurinburg Exchange, N.C.
·2 min read

Sep. 2—LAURINBURG — The KFC Foundation presented the Live Like Madison Foundation with a $10,000 grant this week. And the group, which is dedicated to raising funds for pediatric cancer research and supporting children and families dealing with the disease, is one of three community organizations that the KFC Foundation will highlight nationally.

Tom Broome, president of Scottish Foods System, said 50 organizations across the country were given $10,000 from the group.

"This is the one I'm most proud of right now," Broome said. "I love the cause. I submitted them as a possible recipient. It's an honor that they may get a lot bigger than they are now, than we know."

The Live Like Madison Organization was created in memory of Madison Fedak of Laurinburg, a 7-year-old who passed away in December 2019 after a battle with cancer, in an effort to honor her heart for giving back.

"When they first presented to me, they started talking about Madison, I didn't know her, and as soon as I started hearing the story, I said we're in. We'll do whatever we can do," Broome said.

The Fedak family and members of the Live Like Madison board accepted the check at KFC in Laurinburg.

Laura Fedak, Madison's mother, said she was virtually speechless when she found out that Live Like Madison had been chosen to receive the grant.

"My sister-in-law helped put this grant together, she wrote it and she's on our board. It was kind of like a long shot. We'd heard about it and we had a couple of weeks to put it all together. We got a call last week and they were like you got it," she said. "Of course, I think I screamed in the phone. The fact that this is going to help a lot of the missions that we have within Live Like Madison getting that awareness out there and being able to get in touch with other children who have been diagnosed and are going on the same journey that Madison went on. This is huge, you know."

The money from the foundation will help Live Like Madison continue filling Madison's Toy Chests. These toy chests are filled with toys for children who are being treated at the hospital.

In August 2021 two chests were set up at Scotland Memorial Hospital.

Fedak hopes to be able to expand the other hospitals to supply them with toys as well.

Cheris Hodges can be reached at (910) 506-3169 or chodges@laurinburgexchange.com.