It’s a common story: Ambitious kids move from small towns to larger cities, never to look back. When their parents die, the family wealth that’s been built over generations through farming, ranching or agriculture-related businesses often follows the kids, draining the economic lifeblood from those rural communities.

Illinois Public Media has recently received $2.8 million through two separate estate gifts: The Geneva and R. Linn Belford Fund and the Howard Rutan Endowment.