Local church donates money to help City of Columbia residential customers with utility assistance

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Crossing church will give a donation of $400,000 to go toward paying off City of Columbia residential utility accounts pending disconnection, and those that have a payment arrangement and are potentially at risk of being disconnected.

Officials at the city report the money will pay the balance on 888 residential accounts.

"We appreciate this unprecedented donation from The Crossing and its congregation," said Utilities Director David Sorrell. "These funds will help many members of our community who have faced adversity and have had difficulty paying their bill during the pandemic. We will continue to work with our community partners to do everything we can to help our customers who continue to face hardships due to COVID-19."

The Crossing has identified the following criteria for the use of its donation:

• Pay off all residential utility accounts that are pending disconnection as of April 21, 2021. This will impact 243 accounts at a value of $118,753.05.
• Pay off all payment arrangements for residential utility accounts that were set up during the period of Jan. 1 thru April 21, 2021. This will impact 645 accounts at a value of $276,810.06.
• The remaining funds in the amount of $4,436.89 will be divided amongst the CASH and HELP utility assistance programs that are administered by the Division of Human Services (Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services Department).
• The Community Foundation of Central Missouri, a third party, will handle the disbursement of these funds to the City of Columbia.

The City of Columbia will be sending letters to all customers letting them know if The Crossing donation will be applied to their residential utility account.