Foster's Light in the Dark Hosts Fundraiser to Memorialize Those Lost to Overdose and Suicide

Our Daily Show Interview! Foster's Light in the Dark: 2nd Annual Chicken Dinner on 5-4

EDWARDSVILLE - Foster’s Light in the Dark will host their second annual fundraiser to further their mission of honoring those lost to drug overdose and suicide.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 4, 2025, community members can stop by the Edwardsville Moose Lodge at 7371 Marine Road for a chicken dinner. A portion of the proceeds benefit Foster’s Light in the Dark, a nonprofit that aims to create a memorial park for community members who have lost their lives to substance use and mental illness.

“Our loved ones, yeah, they died,” said Christina Foster Beegle. “But they’re on the other side wanting us to live a life that they never got to. And that’s how we can memorialize them.”

Foster Beegle, who is in recovery herself, started Foster’s Light in the Dark after losing three brothers to suicide and her best friend to an overdose. Over the past year, she has worked hard to spread awareness and raise money for the memorial park she hopes to eventually build in Alton.

In the meantime, the official Foster’s Light in the Dark website has a memorial wall with over 100 people from the community memorialized online. They have also held a candlelight vigil for Overdose Awareness Day, which they hope to do again on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, at Russell Commons Park in Alton.

This event will be followed by a candlelight vigil on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, at Russell Commons Park to honor those lost to suicide. Williams Family White Dove Release will be at both events. Foster Beegle hopes these vigils promote healing and peace.

“This year, my family is going to show up and memorialize my three brothers in a positive way,” she said. “I just want them to know that through my brothers’ deaths, that this beautiful thing has been created, and we can help others. The biggest thing for me has been to lay it down and not blame myself anymore for them dying.”

Once she finalizes the memorial park, Foster Beegle hopes to also create a space for those who are grieving. Her goal is to help people who have experienced loss by giving them a place to remember and honor their loved ones.

The chicken dinner fundraiser on May 4 will take the organization closer to its vision. Plates cost $14 for adults and $12 for kids ages 12 and under, and the meal includes fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, salad and tea or coffee.

You can dine in or carry out. There will also be desserts available for a donation, and 100% of these donations go to the nonprofit.

Foster Beegle thanked the community members and organizations that have rallied around her nonprofit. She noted that Foster’s Light in the Dark is currently establishing connections and building their footprint in the community, with the goal to purchase land for the park in the near future. She is proud of the work they’ve done so far and encourages people to come out and support them if possible.

“In 2024 and 2025, it’s all about building connections and community,” she said. “We’re building good alliances because in 2026, that’s when we want to set up fundraisers to raise the money for the land. But we’ve got to do it together. We can’t do it on our own. We’ve got to come together…As long as we’re being supported by the community with open arms like we have been, we can continue to grow.”

For more information about upcoming events, including the chicken dinner fundraiser, the Overdose Awareness Day, and Suicide Prevention Month event, visit the official Foster’s Light in the Dark website at FostersLightInTheDark.org.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

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