What happens when a community decides that everyone deserves the opportunity to contribute, connect, lead and belong?
On September 30th, more than 230 people came together at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve for Integrate for Good’s 2026 Community Heroes Celebration, and what a night it was!
It was our biggest Celebration yet.
We welcomed a record-setting crowd, recognized 48 corporate and individual sponsors, and broke last year’s fundraising record. Over 45 raffle baskets were donated and hand-wrapped by businesses and friends throughout our community.
Those numbers are exciting. They matter because every dollar raised helps us create more opportunities for young adults with disabilities to build relationships, develop leadership skills, explore employment, contribute their talents and experience that powerful feeling of truly belonging.
But the real story of the evening wasn’t in the numbers.
It was in the people.
It was in a room filled with old friends and new ones. In the cheering. The laughter. The hugs. The introductions being made across tables. The stories being shared. And in hundreds of people choosing to show up because they believe in what we are building together.
Celebrating Our 2026 Community Hero: Ursinus College
Our relationship with Ursinus has grown into something much bigger than a partnership or a place to hold programs.
Through experiential learning, volunteerism and authentic relationships, Ursinus students and Integrate for Good participants are learning alongside one another, building friendships and discovering what becomes possible when people of all abilities have meaningful opportunities to contribute.
That is what belonging looks like.
And after a year when Integrate for Good unexpectedly lost our home, Ursinus opened its doors to us at exactly the moment we needed a community to believe in what could come next.
During the presentation, Bev shared something that sits at the heart of our work: inclusion doesn’t happen by accident.
It happens because people choose it.
They open a door. Pull up a chair. Make an introduction. Extend an invitation. See someone’s strengths. Create an opportunity. And, little by little, those choices create a culture where people know they matter.
Ursinus College President Dr. Gundolf Graml accepted the award on behalf of the College and recognized the faculty, staff and especially the students who have embraced this work. His remarks reflected exactly why this partnership is so meaningful: it isn’t the work of one person or one organization. It is a community choosing to build something together.
Five Lessons That Help Build a Community Where Everyone Belongs
One of the most personal traditions of our Community Heroes Celebration is the presentation of the Leadership Awards in memory of Bev’s mom, Debbie Schwartz.
After losing her mom, Bev found herself thinking about the lessons she had taught her, not through formal advice, but simply through the way she lived every day.
We had the privilege of honoring three people who bring those lessons to life.
Meet Our 2026 Leadership Award Winners
Justin Chamrin is a connector in every sense of the word.
Justin notices people, makes introductions and is always looking for a way to turn an obstacle into an opportunity. He has connected IFG with community partners, stepped into leadership roles and become a paid member of our Corporate Engagement Team.
When transportation gets complicated, Justin figures it out. When extra supplies are needed, he brings them. When he sees an opportunity that could help someone else, he shares it.
Justin doesn’t wait for someone else to build community. He helps build it himself.
Madi Schummer reminds us what courage can look like.
Sometimes courage is speaking even when finding the words takes time. It’s pushing through the frustration when you know exactly what you want to say, but getting the words out is hard. It’s choosing to be heard even when staying quiet might feel easier.
Madi shows us that courage isn’t the absence of struggle. Courage is deciding that your voice matters enough to keep using it.
Madi sings. She creates videos. She shares her humor and creativity. She helps others. And she continues to put herself out into the world exactly as she is.
Watching Madi walk up to the microphone to accept her award was one of those moments we won’t forget. She took her time, found her words and made the moment completely her own, thanking Bev, Tyler and Madelyn for supporting her along the way.
Tyler may have gotten a few extra mentions. Clearly, he has a fan!
And the room loved every second of it.
Kenedy Schummer reminds us that leadership has no age requirement.
As President of Perkiomen Valley High School’s Viking Buddies, Kenedy has helped create a school community where students of all abilities can build friendships, participate, contribute and lead together.
She doesn’t just talk about inclusion.
She creates it.
And that is exactly the kind of leadership our communities need.
From Rebuilding to What Comes Next
There was another reason this year’s Celebration felt especially meaningful.
Less than a year earlier, Bev had stood in that very same room and shared some of the most difficult news in Integrate for Good’s history: sudden funding changes had forced us to leave our physical space and lay-off our staff.
When we packed up that space, even our core values came off the wall.
They were put into a reusable shopping bag, broken into pieces, without knowing where they would hang next.
This year, those same values are hanging proudly on the wall of our new home on Main Street in Collegeville, on the campus of Ursinus College.
Lead boldly. Seek collaboration. Show enthusiasm. Be inclusive. Operate with transparency.
We’re still here.
But more importantly, we’re not simply back where we were.
We are growing. Our programs are expanding. New partnerships are taking shape. Our relationship with Ursinus is opening possibilities we could barely have imagined a year ago.
And our community is stronger than ever.
That may be the greatest thing we celebrated all night.
Because none of this happened alone.
It happened because people showed up.
They made introductions. Shared ideas. Volunteered. Sponsored. Donated. Opened doors. Created opportunities. Believed in our mission, and reminded us, again and again, that we were not rebuilding by ourselves.
And now we get to ask the most exciting question of all:
What can we build next?
The Community Heroes Celebration gave us a glimpse of the answer.
Strangers become friends. People discover what they have to contribute. Leaders emerge. Doors open. And belonging becomes something we don’t just talk about. It becomes something we create together.
So we’ll end with the same challenge Bev shared that night:
Don’t just believe in a world where everyone belongs. Help us build it.
Because the best part of our story is still ahead.
And we can’t wait to build it with you.
Photo Gallery by Kevin York Photography
