The Stafford Family in Columbia once sold Pepsi-Cola products to customers in Boone and surrounding counties, developing relationships with their distributors over the course of 60 years.
When the late J.W. "Stan" Stafford and Louis Smith Stafford established their Stafford Family Charitable Trust in 1988, the idea was to award about $100,000 a year in grants to the company's former service area, which covered 11 counties including Callaway County.
However, that's not what happened, according to Kim Whorton, assistant vice president at Landmark Bank.
"We get a lot of requests from Boone County but they want to give to the whole area," she said of the trust. "They want to put the feelers out to other counties and let people know there's $100,000 out there."
Grants can be for large or small amounts, Whorton said.
"They do a lot of food pantries and handicap accessibility," she said.
People can apply year round, but there are two application deadlines: one on Dec. 31 and another on June 30.
Whorton said applications can be submitted by 501(c)(3) corporations. People interested in applying can go to the landmarkbank.com and click on "Investments," then "Stafford Family Charitable Trust - Columbia" on the left side of the page.
"They have a lot of money to give away," Whorton said.