The 15th annual Farmers’ Electric Cooperative Area Youth Benefit Fund (AYBF) dinner-auction and golf tournament will be held Aug. 19-20, respectively, in Chillicothe.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Farmers’ Electric Cooperative founded the AYBF in 1993 for the purpose of providing 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 money or health insurance to cover the child’s medical expenses.
The AYBF operates primarily in the counties of Daviess, Linn, Chariton, Livingston, Carroll, Ray, Caldwell, DeKalb and Clinton. A family that resides in the counties listed above does not have to be a member of the cooperative to receive financial assistance, but they have to live within the outer boundaries of Farmers’ Electric’s service territory.
The dinner-auction will be held at the Chillicothe Elks Lodge and will include a number of silent auctions and games, as well as a main auction under the call of Col. Mike Miller. The reception begins at 5 p.m., followed by the dinner at 6:30 and the main auction will get underway around 7:40. Pork loin for the dinner is being donated by Premium Standard Farms.
Some of the items that have been donated so far include a diamond necklace, a two-person boat, a novel signed by its author Stephen King, several pieces of Waterford crystal, a one-of-a-kind display cabinet featuring a uniform top, baseball bat and baseball, all signed by Albert Pujols; a football signed by Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs and two passes to the final round of the 2008 Masters Golf Tournament. Other items that will be available at the auction will be limited edition art prints, bronze statues, thousands of dollars in gift certificates, jewelry and decorative items, including woven baskets, a variety of candlesticks or candle holders, plus much, much more.
By the time the volunteer committee is finished in collecting donations there will be many other items available at the event, as well.
The golf tournament will be held on Monday, Aug. 20, at the Green Hills Golf Course, located in north Chillicothe. For the ninth consecutive year Pepsi-Cola Bottling of Chillicothe is co-sponsoring the tournament.
At this writing, the tournament is very close to selling out. The tournament is a three-person scramble with contest on every hole, including a $10,000 hole-in-one contest. Two golfers have won the $10,000 prize in the first 14 years of the tournament. Prizes are also presented to the top three teams in each flight. Every golfer will receive a registration bag, which includes a Gear For Sports polo shirt, a sleeve of golf balls, plus additional items donated by area merchants. Lunch is being catered by Hy-Vee Food Store of Chillicothe. Morning tee time is 7:30, while the afternoon tee time is 1:30.
"Over the years the AYBF has donated nearly $350,000 to area families," said Mike Sanders, FEC CEO. "We hope to raise over $30,000 through these events."
Donations to Daviess County has been in the amount of $29,415.44. A total of 332 families have received financial assistance from the AYBF.