By Carla Carlton

Dana Willett-Maier vividly remembers the news reports in March about the death of Butler High School cheerleader Madelynn Troutt in a head-on collision on Dixie Highway. Then she learned that the other driver was in a stolen truck and was being charged with driving while intoxicated, among other charges.

“That ripped my heart out,” said Willett-Maier, who was a cheerleader for Butler in the 1970s and has six adult children. Although she didn’t know the Troutt family, “I channeled that grief into creating a Facebook group called Butler Cheerleaders Sending Love and reached out to anyone who was a Butler cheerleader to join,” she said. “My goal was simply to love all over that family so they knew that we cared and that Madelynn mattered.” The private group quickly grew to hundreds of members.

“We want her name to live on for as long as it can, in the most positive way that it can.”

“We had never met before Madelynn’s accident, but she has been a complete blessing,” Marcie Troutt, Madelynn’s mother, said of Willett-Maier. “She is one of the most amazing, kind-hearted women I have ever met. I have definitely found a new forever friend.”

Madelynn, a senior, had been accepted to Bellarmine and planned to study nursing. When Willett-Maier read that in the obituary, she decided to raise money for a nursing scholarship in Madelynn’s name. She contacted Joan Riggert, director of Planned Giving and Stewardship at Bellarmine.

Willett-Maier wanted to establish an endowed scholarship, which requires $50,000. A portion of the earnings generated from the principal gift and additional gifts is used to award scholarships each year. “It was a very exciting call to receive,” Riggert said. “I explained that raising money from a group is very different, and sometimes more difficult, than a gift by an individual or two. Sometimes it takes longer to raise. She was insistent that she would raise $50,000 and confident it would be raised by December.”

“Our goal was to raise the money by December so that it could fund a scholarship for next year,” Willett-Maier said. “We did it in four months.”

The bulk of the money—$30,000—was raised through a golf scramble Willett-Maier organized at South Park Country Club on June 28. “I’d never even been to a golf scramble, but it sounded like fun,” she said. The event drew more than 200 golfers, necessitating a second time slot.  

The remaining balance came from smaller efforts. The Butler cheerleaders sold T-shirts decorated with a sunflower, Madelynn’s favorite flower. Willett-Maier held a 50/50 “split the pot” fundraiser and set up a GoFundMe page asking for $18 donations on Madelynn’s 18th birthday, which was also the day her family accepted her diploma at Butler’s graduation.

“I've never had another scholarship endowed by so many people as quickly as this one was, and they aren’t done,” Riggert said. “The best part is that Dana and the family will have the opportunity to meet the recipient next year and follow their academic progress until graduation and the next scholar begins.  This is the most rewarding part of working with donors and students.”

Preference for the scholarship will be given to a Butler High School graduate majoring in nursing. “The student will get to know about Madelynn when they receive this,” Marcie Troutt said. “We want her name to live on for as long as it can, in the most positive way that it can.”

On Oct. 18, a benefit for the scholarship will be held at the Louisville Professional Firefighters Union No. 365 at 400 Baker’s Lane. The golf scramble will be held annually.

Asked if she is always this driven, Willett-Maier said no. “Without a shadow of a doubt, God planted Madelynn in my heart that day,” she said. “I am not capable of doing this alone. I’m still amazed by it. This family sure is loved. My only intention at the beginning was to lift them up.”

“We have been blown away,” Marcie Troutt said. “It has been overwhelming, but in a good way. There really are no words, honestly. I feel very blessed.”

To make a gift, visit http://www.bellarmine.edu/give. On the form, note that your gift is for the Madelynn Troutt Memorial Nursing Scholarship.