The 20th annual dinner-auction and golf tournament for Farmers’ Electric’s Area Youth Benefit Fund (AYBF) raised just under $40,000 this year.


The monies raised included $6,000 from over 1,100 FEC members who participate in Operation Round Up each month. The main auction raised $11,600.The highest bid item of the evening, the opportunity to shave Steve Shoot’s head, went for $2,000. Other main items that sold included a weeklong stay at a Florida Condo for $1,200 and the use of a Royals Suite for $1500. The three levels of the silent auction raised a combined $3,800.Chillicothe's Elks Lodge hosted the Sunday dinner-auction.
The fundraising continued Monday morning at the Green Hills Golf Course. There were 58 three-member teams participating in the golf tournament sponsored for the fourteenth consecutive year by Pepsi Cola Bottling of Chillicothe. The groups were split into morning and afternoon flights. As of Monday morning, including money raised from the golf tournament, the annual benefit has generated $39,465.
In 1993, Farmers' Electric established the Area Youth Benefit Fund, a 501(c)3 charity to provide financial assistance toward the payment of medical bills for children 18 years of age and under. The fund is designed to assist families with children who have been ill or injured in which the parents do not have enough resources or health insurance to cover the medical costs.
The fund primarily operates in the counties of Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, Clinton, Davies, DeKalb, Linn, Livingston and Ray. A family who is a member of FEC, but resides in a county not listed above, is also eligible for AYBF assistance. A family that resides in the counties listed above does not have to be a member of the Cooperative to receive financial assistance. In the last 20 years, over $530,000 has been distributed to 488 area families. Anyone wishing to make application for assistance should contact the Farmers’ Electric office at 660-646-4281 and ask for Jennie Tipton.