Boone Electric Community Trust

The Boone Electric Community Trust was established in 1997, and since then, the trust has provided over $3.5 million in funding to nonprofits and public entities. The trust funds eligible 501(c)3 organizations and public entities, such as schools, as long as there is a physical location within Boone Electric Cooperative’s service territory. It has helped to fund vans to transport clients to medical appointments, a community playground in a small Boone County village, diapers for low-income families, nine $2,000 scholarships to area high school seniors, and four $2,000 scholarships for eligible at-large students.

Today, nine trustees manage the Boone Electric Community Trust and are appointed by the cooperative’s board of directors. Every other month, the board meets to review and research funding applications and to determine how funds should be allocated. These trustees spend hours contacting the applicants and work with their reviewers to make sure that they fully understand the request. As a group, they discuss each applicant and make funding decisions as a whole. Currently, the nine trustees are Dorothy Grant (chair), Khesha Duncan (vice chair), Cathryn Taggart (secretary), Sarah Cummings (treasurer), Sharon McClure, Maxine Glenn, Craig Stevenson, Kim Stichnote, and John Truesdell.

By the end of 2020, the trust would like to reach out to new nonprofit organizations or nonprofits that have never applied to the trust before, and encourage the organizations to apply as it looks to increase its number of new applicants by 30%.

“Columbia has such a wide variety of nonprofits that serve the community, and residents are lucky to have such a supportive community,” communications specialist Rhonda Stone Proctor explains. “We continue to look for new applicants and encourage new organizations to reach out to the trust for connections, advice, and support.”

The Boone County Electric Community Trust credits Boone Electric Cooperative for where it is today. Through its support and donations, the trust has been able to continue to flourish and provide assistance to the community.