FARMINGTON – Clem and Rolande Begin of Carrabassett Valley launched an endowment fund for the new Evergreen Child Development Center Thursday with their gift of $50,000.

The announcement was made during a celebration of the grand opening of the new location of the Martha B. Webber Breast Care Center in the Franklin Health Medical Arts Center.

The Evergreen Child Development Center opened in August at the Mt. Blue Health Center and is part of Evergreen Behavioral Services and the Franklin Community Health Network.

An advisory board raising $150,000 to start the center and entice Dr. Iris Silverstein to return to Farmington to lead the program, Begin said. Begin serves on the board.

The center treats children with developmental and behavioral concerns including autism, said Silverstein, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician.

“I want to give while I’m alive to see how my investment is going to go,” Begin told the gathering while endorsing the act of estate planning through the hospital as he has done.

“The support of philanthropists such as the Begins, William Berry, the Peter Webber family and others who have opened their hearts to special programs … shows the giving nature of people in this county which makes it a great place for us to live,” said FMH President Richard Batt.

An endowment to support the Martha B. Webber Breast Care Center began with donations from the Webber family and continues with the generosity of the community, Batt added.

The center was inspired by Webber’s hope that breast cancer awareness would be available to the rural people of Franklin County, Kate Webber-Punderson, daughter of Peter and Martha Webber, said as she read a letter from her father.

New technology including digital mammography is now available at the center but it’s the staff that are there who make the difference, Dr. Eric Gunther told the gathering.