Five local students will represent Pioneer Electric during our 2026 youth programs. AUDRIANA PENA  and TALIA FLORES of Ulysses and KATE BURGER of Stanton County, will attend the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. RUBEN RODRIGUEZ of Ulysses and EMMANUEL GONZALES of Lakin, will attend the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp (CYLC) near Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

“They get to experience things they typically wouldn’t have the opportunity to,” said Alyssa Hammond, Pioneer Electric youth tour coordinator. “It opens their eyes and broadens their horizons.”

Pioneer Electric’s Youth Tour program is available to local high school sophomores and juniors. Students are selected after submitting an online application and participating in an in-person interview.

Electric Cooperative Youth Tour connects nearly 2,000 participants from across the country, but the students don’t pay a penny. The entire cost is funded by local cooperatives, statewide associations and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), all of whom recognize the value.

“Kansas’ electric cooperatives know they’re investing in the next generation of co-op members and leaders,” Hammond said. “We’re giving these students a firsthand look at how the co-op business model works before most have zeroed in on a career.”

Pioneer Electric’s program also offers the opportunity to attend the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp. While at camp, students immerse themselves in the “cooperative life” by running a candy cooperative for the camp. Additional activities include rafting down the Colorado River, touring Craig Power Station, getting up close and personal with birds of prey and more while taking in the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

Learn more about Pioneer Electric’s Youth Tour program here.

Pioneer Electric Cooperative announced on Friday, February 13, 2026, that the Ulysses Gun Club is a recipient of a $2,850 Helping Us Give to Society (H.U.G.S.) grant. The club will also receive an additional $2,850 in matching grant funds courtesy of CoBank’s Sharing Success Program.

The Ulysses Gun Club offers participants (including 4-H groups, businesses, and individuals across southwest Kansas) the opportunity to use its trap shooting range. Improvements to its current lighting will improve visibility, which the club says is essential for the safety of range users.

The grants will allow the club to update its outdoor lighting, which it says is essential to the safety of range users.

“One of the opportunities we have is a winter league,” said Whitney Verhage, “In the winter, you’re shooting in the dark. Our current lighting conditions do not meet the requirements to see the targets at night.”

Verhage added that updating the lights will increase league participation, especially among youth whose only opportunity to practice is in the evenings.

Pioneer Electric’s H.U.G.S. program offers grants to projects of tax-exempt organizations designed to fill a need in the community. A list of grant requirements and the application to apply can be found here.