Living Legacy
In the aftermath of unimaginable loss, some people retreat inward. Others find a way, slowly and painfully, to turn grief into something that serves others. For The BE Foundation founder Amie Drudge, that transformation came after the tragic death of her twin daughters, Elleana and Isabella Gaddis, in a car accident nearly five years ago.
“They just weren’t done yet,” Drudge says. “They had so much more to give.”
That belief became the heart of The BE Foundation, a nonprofit created to carry forward the goodness, kindness and love her daughters embodied so naturally. The foundation’s guiding mission — Be good. Be kind. Be love. — is not just a slogan, but a reflection of who Elleana and Isabella were in everyday life.
“They were teenage girls, so they had their moments,” Drudge says. “But they were incredibly kind.”
She recalls Elleana insisting on spending all her own money to buy artwork from a classmate, determined that the girl know her talent mattered. Both twins worked at a preschool, where their patience and warmth were evident in everything from teaching children to walk — albeit sometimes in high heels — to comforting kids who needed extra care.
Those moments, Drudge says, shaped the foundation’s earliest purpose: to put back into the world what it had lost when her daughters were gone.
Launched initially at the urging of her husband, Cori, the foundation began during the rawest stages of grief.
“I was so new to it all,” Drudge says. “It felt heavy. Some days, just existing felt heavy.” Even early fundraising events, like a 5K held on the girls’ birthday, were emotionally taxing and overwhelming. “I didn’t enjoy them at first,” she says. “I dreaded them, even though I was extremely grateful.”
Over time, that heaviness has shifted. Today, Drudge feels more grounded and more ready to grow the foundation with intention.
The BE Foundation has supported a wide range of immediate needs in the community, from helping families cover utility bills and rehabilitation costs to providing Christmas gifts for children and assistance for single parents. While the mission has intentionally remained broad to meet urgent needs as they arise, Drudge says the foundation is now beginning to narrow its focus.
Literacy has emerged as a central priority, an evolution that feels deeply personal. “My girls worked at a preschool,” she says. “In my mind, they would have become teachers.”
That belief has guided new initiatives, including scholarships for local students and a partnership with Ball State University to sponsor English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for families in Hamilton County.
“We’re a wealthy county, but that doesn’t mean needs don’t exist,” Drudge says. “Sometimes people just need access — access to language, to opportunity, to being seen.”
What has surprised her most is the community’s generosity.
“People believe in us,” she says. “And that’s a big responsibility. When people trust you with their money, you want to honor that trust in every decision.”
On the hardest days, Drudge leans on that same community, and on quiet reminders of her daughters.
“Grief never really goes away,” she says. “You just carry it. But I believe the girls nudge me sometimes, reminding me that someone needs a little kindness.”
In those moments, the mission becomes clear again. Through small acts of goodness and deliberate acts of love, The BE Foundation continues — not as a solution to grief, but as a living legacy of two young lives that continue to matter.
For more information or to get involved, visit befoundation.info.
