The twenty-fifth annual dinner-auction and golf tournament for the Farmers’ Electric Area Youth Benefit Fund raised approximately $49,000 this year.
The monies raised included $5,500 from more than 1,000 Farmers’ Electric Cooperative Members who participate in Operation Round Up each month. The main auction raised $16,055. The highest bid item of the evening, two tickets to the 2018 Masters Tournament, went for $2,000. Other high bid main auction items included separate week-long stays at two Condos for $1,900 and $1,000, respectively, and two season tickets for MU Football brought $1,000. The three levels of the silent auction raised a combined $6,094. Chillicothe’s Elks Lodge hosted the Saturday, August 26 dinner-auction that was co-sponsored by Hedrick Medical Center.
The fundraising continued Monday, August 28, at the Green Hills Golf Course. There were 47 three-member teams participating in the golf tournament sponsored for the nineteenth consecutive year by Pepsi-Cola Bottling of Chillicothe. The groups were split into morning and afternoon flights. Thus far, the annual fundraising events generated $48,979.
“This area has proven time and time again how generous it is,” said AYBF Coordinator Chasity Anderson. “We are overwhelmed with the fantastic support the community has given the Area Youth Benefit Fund for the twenty-fifth year in a row and offer a sincere thank you to all those that made this year’s events such a great success.”
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. Assistance is available for families regardless of whether or not they are insured.
The fund primarily operates in the counties of Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb, Linn, Livingston and Ray. A family that resides in those counties does not have to be a Member of the Cooperative to apply for financial assistance. In the last 25 years, more than $714,000 has been distributed to 657 area families. Anyone wishing to make application for assistance should contact the Farmers’ Electric Cooperative office at 660-646-4281 and ask for Jennie Tipton.
