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The India Benton Lesser Foundation
India Benton Lesser was born India Benton in 1945 in Colbert, Madison County, Georgia. The town of Colbert was so named for her great great grandfather. She was the only child of Joe D. and Ouida Colbert Benton. Her father owned Colbert Seed Company.
India Benton completed high school at a finishing school in Gulfport, Mississippi. She attended Greenbrier College in Lewisburg, West Virginia and the University of Miami. She completed her undergraduate education at the University of Georgia. In 1968 she came to Macon to obtain a Masters degree in Elementary Education from Mercer University. That same year, she also met Bruce William Lesser, a pharmaceutical representative from Baltimore Maryland. They married in 1970.
India Benton Lesser was an elementary school teacher in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia, for 29 years. While having formally retired from teaching, she remains active in the community as a member of the Macon Service League, the Red Hat Society of Sarasota and the Nathaniel Macon and Allapattah Chapters of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. Lesser is a member of Sertoma Club, a mentor for the Bibb County School System Mentor Project, an honorary Board Member of the American Cancer Society, a member of the American Legion and he has served in the Air Force Reserves. Mr. and Mrs. Lesser are also volunteers with the American Cancer Society and board members of the Sarasota Film Festival.
While the India Benton Lesser Foundation bears only the name of its founder, it represents an entire family legacy of community involvement, social responsibility and unending generosity. Thanks to the caring and commitment of the family, a lasting resource now exists to help make Central and Northeast Georgia a better place for all of its citizens.
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