"Five years ago, several members of the community had a vision for Fort Madison Football. That vision included establishing a quality youth football league, with a mass participation philosophy that was affordable to all members of the community. The biggest challenge was the initial cost of such an endeavor. The Baxter Family Foundation graciously provided us with the financial support to get the ball rolling. Without their support there is no way we could provide such a quality annual program for nearly 200 kids! We have been recognized as perhaps the least expensive tackle football league in the entire country with a participation fee of $40.00. The Baxter Family Foundation also continues to provide us support to help sustain our program. In 2013 our middle school programs completed an overall two year record of 27-3. In the five years prior teams averaged a little under 2 wins per year at that level. This year, the first group of players to participate in the league entered the Varsity level (Sophomores). Fort Madison football is about to be on the map! This is simply not possible without the help of The Baxter Family Foundation."
-Todd McGhgy, Fort Madison Football
"I am writing to let everyone know how grateful the Fort Madison Girls Bloodhound Basketball team is for the support of The Baxter Foundation. With the support of the foundation we are going to be able to attend 3 camps over the summer and the donation received from the foundation also helped the girls buy new warm ups. The extra practice from camps will show a better team next season and allows the girls to keep playing as a team throughout the summer to improve all of their basketball skills. So from all of us connected to The Fort Madison Girls Bloodhound Basketball team we want to say Thank You for always supporting our youth events and making our community a place for the kids to enjoy each of their sports."
-Bobby Marshall, Fort Madison Girls Bloodhound Basketball
I am proud to write a testimonial for the Baxter Family Foundation. I have lived in the Fort Madison community my entire life and have seen the wonderful things the Baxter Family Foundation has done for the young kids in our community and the youth sports programs. The Fort Madison Sliders Softball program has been around for many years. The team that I am currently working with began play in April, 2009 as a 10U ASA team. We just completed our first year of 16U ASA softball. The Baxter Family Foundation Grant has enabled us to compete at a very high level. The funds have been used to purchase uniforms, equipment, tournament fees, and ASA membership fees for the team members. Some of our accomplishments over the past few years are as follows:
2011 – 12U Class C State Champions
2012 – 14U Class B State Champions
2012 – 14U Class B 5th Place finish at the ASA Northern Nationals
2013 – 14U Class A State Runner-Up (losing only to the State Champion)
2014 – 16U Class A State Runner-Up (competed against 2 18U teams)
Our team is coached by 3 very dedicated volunteers, who put in countless hours of work with these kids. We also have a very strong parent group who supports our efforts. Currently, the Fort Madison Sliders Softball program has 10U, 12U, 14U and 16U teams competing this year. I cannot thank the Baxter Family Foundation enough for keeping the youth sports programs alive and well in Fort Madison, Iowa.
- Michael K. Culbertson, Fort Madison Sliders 16U Coach
The Midwest Bandits 11u softball team, player, parents and coaches would like to thank the Baxter family Foundation for their very generous gift. The gift you gave to help these young ladies is very appreciative. Words can not explain how thankful we all are. These young ladies work very hard at the sport they love, first in the classroom and second on the field. Thank you very much Baxter Family Foundation.
- Jared Rehm, Midwest Bandits 11U Softball Coach
First of all we would like to thank you for your generous donation to the Southeast Iowa Junior Blackhawk Baseball program. The Jr. Blackhawks are a youth baseball organization formed in Southeast to improve the skills and knowledge of young boys in our organization. We feel through baseball we can provide an avenue to teach these boys the importance of hard work , discipline and teamwork. We want our boys to be great teammates , humble individuals and great competitors. Your donation will go toward our travel expenses as we work hard to provide our team an opportunity to play against the best completion in Iowa as well as throughout the Midwest. Thank you again for your generosity.
- Justin Schulte, Founder, Southeast Iowa Junior Blackhawks