Chapter 1 is done. Help us write what comes next.

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Jonnie has played the same SHeDAISY song every March 4th for almost all 25 years that Bethany has been missing.

This year, she played it in a room full of people once again.

On March 4, 2026, exactly 25 years after Bethany Markowski disappeared, The Bethany Markowski Foundation held its annual Tennessee Missing Children's Day Community Event at Capitol Theatre in Lebanon, Tennessee as a newly formed nonprofit. About 100 people came. The lights went low. Candles came out. A slideshow of missing children's faces played on the screen while the room went quiet.

That was us becoming real.

What happened that night:

Between 20 and 30 children were fingerprinted for free because when Bethany went missing, her family didn't have her prints. Each family left with a complete child safety kit. NCMEC resource tables lined the room. A silent auction brought the Lebanon community together.

Jonnie spoke. Her seven-year-old niece ran on stage mid-speech, and Jonnie held her and kept going. Then that little girl took the microphone herself and told the room it was sad.

She was right.

WKRN News 2, WBBJ TV, and Fox 17 all covered the story. If you missed the full recap, we wrote about the whole night on the blog, trying to memorialize every detail and every moment as best as we could.

What comes next:

The event was Chapter 1. Chapter 2 is what we're building right now and we need your help to finish it.

We're developing two free programs for families of missing children and parents everywhere:

A handbook for Tennessee families of missing children — a practical guide for the first 24 hours after a child goes missing. Who to call. What your rights are. How to survive. Free to any family who needs it.

Free child safety online courses — accessible education for parents, caregivers, and educators on online safety, warning signs, and what to do when something feels wrong. Free. Always.

Neither costs a family a single dollar. Both cost us real money to build. Here's what your gift does:

• $25 → Helps with printing and distributing a handbook chapter to a family in need
• $50 → Helps with a month of course hosting, keeping it free for every family
• $100 → Helps print and ship the complete handbook to more families
• $250 → Helps sponsor a free community child safety workshop
• $500 → Funds one full online safety course module, built by our team, free forever

Bethany would be 36 years old. Her case is still open. Her mother is still fighting.

Thank you for being part of this.

— The Bethany Markowski Foundation
Lebanon, Tennessee
bethanymarkowski.com | (615) 784-3287
​Tennessee 501(c)(3) | EIN: 41-2321010 | All donations are tax-deductible.