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caravan from Maddox Foundation headed to Nashville on a mission
Local caravan from Maddox Foundation headed to Nashville on a mission
HERNANDO - With the number of clergy and lay ministers on board, the bus carrying more than 50 individuals from DeSoto County and Northwest Mississippi to Nashville courtesy of the Maddox Foundation just might be mistaken for a zealously spirited group embarking on a church mission.
That comparison is all right with Maddox Foundation president Robin Costa whose zeal for community service was inspired by the late Dan Maddox, who founded the philanthropic Maddox Foundation Trust in 1968. The DeSoto Countians going on the trip basically amount to the local board of directors for the Maddox Foundation, Costa said.
"These particular people were chosen because of their involvement in the community," Costa said. At tonight's banquet in Nashville, Costa said the Maddox Foundation will mark a new chapter. "It will be a pivotal evening in the Maddox Foundation's history. We will honor the past and prepare for the future."
Costa, 35, was chosen to take the reins of the Maddox Foundation shortly after a fatal boating accident off the coast of Florida killed Dan Maddox and his wife Margaret. Costa had been working alongside Maddox for 16 years after he hired her at age 16 as his receptionist. Costa is president of Maddox's 45 companies. Some five years before his death, Costa had worked her way up to senior vice president of all his companies.
A statewide RV tour brought Costa to Hernando and she never left. Giving back to the community where she lives is something which Costa said she enjoys teaching others about.
The trip to Nashville is a way of honoring these local DeSoto Countians and introducing them to people and organizations which literally transformed Nashville.
Years ago, when Dan Maddox first moved to Nashville, the metropolitan area had one of the worst crime rates in the nation and some of the poorest roads in Tennessee. More than three decades later, Nashville can boast of being one of the most livable cities in Tennessee if not the world.
Costa believes the Maddox Foundation has already made a difference in DeSoto County after the Foundation relocated to Hernando more than three years ago.
A brand new roller hockey rink for youth is under construction and Costa and her staff recently traveled to Phoenix in an effort to learn more about managing a professional hockey franchise. Costa is involved in ongoing negotiations to purchase the Memphis RiverKings.
In addition, the Maddox Foundation's past involvement with promoting the Y-Cap organization, or Youth Community Action group which is aimed at helping wayward youths has resulted in less juvenile problems in the community.
However, it is the effort to put a computer in every classroom that has impressed members of the local community and inspired Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to launch his "Computers in Every Classroom" initiative statewide.
Bill Austin, DeSoto County native, businessman and attorney, and his wife Lynda are scheduled to go on the trip to Nashville. They are true believers in the Maddox Foundation.
"They have made a tremendous difference in the community," Austin said. "When they came in they didn't have any motive but to help our community. The first thing they did was to make it possible to put a computer in every classroom and I think one day that could lead to putting a computer at every desk. They had hardly put their suitcases down before they got going with that project.
"The next thing they did was to provide a scholarship at DeSoto Center," he said, referring to the Dr. Robert Seymour Continuing Education Scholarship fund which assists working adults the opportunity to go back to college and earn their degrees. "They have done great things in our community."
Robert Khayat, chancellor of the University of Mississippi, said the Maddox Foundation has made a significant impact on the entire region.
"I think the Maddox Foundation has had a dramatic impact on life in North Mississippi in a very short period of time," Khayat said. "I know when I visited at the DeSoto Center there and heard from the young woman who received the Maddox Foundation (Seymour) scholarship it was very heartwarming.
"I think really investing in people is one of the truly wonderful things that a person or a foundation can do," he said.
