For more than two decades, North Carolina’s electric cooperatives have teed up support for the Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Health Care, hosting an annual golf tournament that helps one of the nation’s leading burn centers expand its care, research and outreach.

Every year since 1999, cooperative leaders and industry partners have come together to play a round of golf, with proceeds benefiting the burn center. These funds strengthen its mission of providing the crucial combination of specialized medical care and rehabilitative services required by patients recovering from burn injuries.

In total, the co-ops have donated nearly $3 million to support the staff and patients in Chapel Hill.

“North Carolina’s electric cooperatives’ longstanding partnership with the Jaycee Burn Center further emphasizes our commitment to community and the importance of having a comprehensive burn center in North Carolina to care for patients and potentially employees who need care,” said Winston Howell, chief executive officer at Edgecombe-Martin County EMC and North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives’ representative for the Jaycee Burn Center. “We’re blessed to have a facility so close with the expertise they have to treat patients in their time of need.”

The golf tournament represents just part of a longstanding partnership. North Carolina’s electric cooperatives have been supporting the Jaycee Burn Center since 1972.

John Stackhouse, a founder of the Jaycee Burn Center and creator of Stackhouse Inc., saw firsthand how burns were impacting the electric industry. With a lack of adequate care for employees who suffered burns, Stackhouse, alongside the board of the Rural Electric Association, pledged $40,000 each to help establish a burn center.

Today, the Jaycee Burn Center is among the five busiest burn centers in the country, admitting an average of 1,600 patients annually.

“North Carolina’s electric cooperatives have been our biggest partner,” said Dr. Booker T. King, director of the Jaycee Burn Center. “This goes to research, patient care and it goes toward supporting the staff at the burn center.”

Beyond patient care, the burn center is committed to education, helping prevent burns before they happen through classes and community programs. With the support of the cooperatives, the burn center has been able to bolster these programs and expand its overall care capabilities.

“We’re so overwhelmed with gratitude for what the co-ops do here each year,” said King. “Thank you so much, from the bottom of our hearts.”

The Jaycee Burn Center says its goal is to serve individuals and families across North Carolina, helping them return to happy and productive lives. The money raised by the cooperatives will help the center serve not only the patients they see every day but also potentially save many others from burns before they occur.