They say there is power in numbers. That was the case on July 1 when FreeState Electric Cooperative trustees and employees presented the Ronald McDonald House in Topeka a check for $25,000. The gift is part of the cooperative’s annual Sharing Success Program, which is facilitated by CoBank – FreeState’s lender. 

“This incredible donation could not come at a better time for the Ronald McDonald House,” said Mindee Reece, CEO and executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Kansas. “We are blown away by the generosity shown today and could not be more thankful.” 

The $25,000 gift will help fund the house’s Share-a-Night Program. 

The program provides lodging at no cost for families whose children are receiving in-patient care at Stormont Vail Health, Stormont Vail West, the University of Kansas Health Systems St. Francis Campus, or a private mental health facility in Topeka. While some families can donate for a stay, less than 25% of those needing accommodations are financially able to do so due to large medical bills. 

“No one is ever turned away for inability to pay,” said Reece, “The support from FreeState is essential to our mission.” 

“Every $25 donated covers a family’s stay for one night,” Reece added. “This gift will support 1,000 nights for families.”

Reece said that families typically stay an average of 11 nights, but the most has been a 118-night stay. The house not only provides a place to stay but also hot meals and support as they face a very stressful time in their lives. 

The Share-a-Night program hit close to home for FreeState. Shad Schafer, an employee at FreeState, stayed in the Kansas City Ronald McDonald house for 241 nights while their son was at Children’s Mercy. The house, Schafer says, was an incredible resource for his young family. 

“What Colby went through was such an unexpected experience for us,” said Schafer. “The house provided us a level of comfort during a scary time.”

Schafer also had a three-year-old and staying at the house allowed the family some form of normalcy, while what they were going through was anything but. The house gave the family a place to sleep, but also go throughout the day that was close to the hospital. The house provided hot meals, a place for rest, and a place to decompress. The house also provided a place to do laundry and provided the necessities needed which was a huge weight off the shoulders of Shad and his wife Cassie. 

“We were just a short walk away if we were needed,” said Schafer. “The house allowed us to be a family together on the weekends but was a place I knew my wife was being taken care of during the week while she was staying close to Colby.” 

“We also were able to meet other families going through their own tough times,” Schafer added. “To this day, we still keep up with them and the journeys their families are going on.” 

Schafer said the support the house gave his family and others was incredible, but the support provided by outside organizations and individuals should be recognized as well. 

“There were so many generous groups of people that would take time out of their days to come to prepare meals, and restock pantry items,” Schafer said. “It takes so many to make a home away from home and my family and I are grateful.” 

Schafer's personal story made the selection of Ronald McDonald House a slam dunk for the employees at FreeState. 

“We did things a little different this year,” said CEO, Chris Parr. “While the application process was the same, our selection was done by our employees first. They were able to choose which organization they wanted to raise money for.” 

“Our trustees and management set a goal of $6,000, and we wanted to have 25% participation,” Parr added. “We overwhelmingly exceeded those goals.” 

Parr said employees and trustees raised $15,000. When added to the CoBank match of $10,000, the cooperative made a significant donation that will provide support to an organization that does so much for families going through some of the most challenging circumstances. 

Laura Sidlinger, past board president of RMHC of NEK said the gift exceeded all expectations she had. “I am just so thankful, and impressed that a company like this, with just 80 employees, has come together and provided us with our largest gift ever. It just shows what kind of organization they are and what kind of people work for this cooperative.” 

That giving spirit is all part of the cooperative difference and has been part of FreeState’s community giving program for years. 

“We are so thankful for our partnership with CoBank,” Parr said. “For the last decade, we’ve been able to do so much for area organizations, and it’s just a testament to the cooperative network and what being part of a cooperative is all about.” 

CoBank’s Sharing Success program provides matching grant funds up to $10,000 for cooperatives like FreeState to utilize across the country to help communities in cooperative service areas thrive. The cooperative has been participating for a decade and has given over $126,000 to area organizations in the cooperative’s nine-county service territory. 

“We’re a member service organization,” said Jeanine Murphy, FreeState board president. “This is exactly what our cooperative mission is all about.” 

“It’s the cooperative difference at work,” Murphy added. 

The support doesn’t stop with the gift. The cooperative is also promoting a Sippin’ All Summer Challenge leading up to FreeState’s member appreciation event held at the Topeka Zoo on Saturday, August 27. 

“This challenge is meant to be a fun way FreeState families can support families and keep them close,” said Sarah Farlee, FreeState public relations and marketing director. “It’s also promoting ways to help that don’t cost anything. When you’re done with that summer soda, pop the top and save it to help the mission of Ronald McDonald House.” 

“We’re asking members to bring those pop tabs to our Crew at the Zoo event, and we’ll make sure they get donated where they need to go,” said Farlee. “However, if you can’t make it out to the zoo, you can drop them off at our co-op offices in Topeka or McLouth or directly donate them to Ronald McDonald House.” 

The promotion can be found at www.freestate.coop/sip. 

FreeState has participated in the Sharing Success program for the past 10 years and has made impactful donations to local organizations throughout the FreeState service territory. For more information about the program visit https://freestate.coop/SharingSuccess

With more than 15,500 members, FreeState Electric Cooperative is the largest rural electric cooperative in Eastern Kansas and the fifth largest rural electric cooperative in Kansas. FreeState serves nine Kansas counties and provides the infrastructure to Fort Leavenworth. For more information, visit www.freestate.coop and Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.