Kentucky's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives recently announced its 2024 winners of the Who Powers You contest. Now in its fourth year, the contest recognizes co-op members working to improve their communities.
Billy Hayes, a South Kentucky RECC member, was named first-place winner and received $1,000 for his efforts in feeding the less fortunate during the holidays in his community.
Hayes, who owns the Frisch's Big Boy franchise in Somerset, has delivered Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and gifts to more than a thousand less fortunate people in the south Kentucky region the last two years.
"If anyone ever has a need he is always coming with ideas and executing them to help," said Bobbie Coggins, who nominated Hayes for the award.
"Being in the food business and having a place to do it really streamlines the process," Hayes said. His family spent 12 hours in the restaurant and employees refused to clock in. "It's humbling to think people would put support and faith in another person."
Clark Energy member Victoria Cassidy is the second-place winner of the year's contest. She received $750 for her efforts in promoting, coaching and organizing youth soccer in Powell County.
Cassidy's vision of creating a club soccer team for young people in Powell County is coming to fruition.
Powell County has a poverty rate of more than 21 percent and a median household income under $40,000, which makes it one of the poorest counties in one of the poorest states in the country.
"We want to make it affordable for our local kids," Cassidy said, who alongside friend Tyler White, is working on make the club team a reality. "If you go to Lexington, it's $1,000 to $2,000 to play on the team. People can't afford that. Here we're trying to keep it $100 or lower, which is crazy."
Farmers RECC member Steve Kistler is the 2024 third-place winner in the 2024 Who Powers You contest. He received a $250 check for his work in creating a scholarship nonprofit that has provided more than $400,000 in scholarships since its inception in 2015.
In 2015, Kistler and a small group of like-minded people started the Hart County Scholarship Alliance, a nonprofit that sought donations to help deserving Hart County students with scholarships. He's still serving as executive director of the organization.
"We got a board together and we started asking people for money, and it was way more generous than we anticipated," Kistler said. "In the first year we got five and six thousand dollars in donations and we were thrilled."
In 2023, though, the scholarship contributions grew to $50,000 per year. Over the course of the last 10 years, the Hart County Scholarship Alliance has provided nearly half a million dollars toward educational scholarships for Hart County students.
The Who Powers You contest is presented by Kentucky's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives. Sixteen electric cooperatives solicit nominations of cooperative members who are making a positive impact in their co-op communities.
Learn more about the winners at www.WhoPowersYouKy.com. Next year's contest will run during the month of October.