Lincon County Crimestoppers calls it quits

The board for the Lincoln County chapter of Crimestoppers voted to dissolve the organization last week as a result of declining community involvement and five years of operating costs surpassing donations.

Once the organization pays off its last bills, it will divvy up its remaining funds – roughly $25,000 – to the local chapter of Wings, the Boy and Girl Scouts of Lincoln County and St. John’s Hospice, said local Crimestoppers president Keeli Anderson. The group will award Wings half of the donation and the other two entities will split the remaining amount.

“It’s kind of a sad thing to let it go,” Anderson said, “but rather than losing money every year for minimal payout, it just seemed that the money could be better used within the community.”

The chapter, which the group estimates was formed in 1987, aimed to reduce crime by increasing public involvement through an anonymous 24-hour tip line and cash rewards for information leading to arrests.

Anderson has seen little activity in her five years with Crimestoppers and has watched even the minimal donations diminish over time. When the board learned that new requirements would entail filing more paperwork for Crimestoppers to keep its nonprofit status, the board decided to call it quits.

“We didn’t feel that it warranted the extra time and effort to meet the new requirements,” Anderson said. “We felt as a board that the funds would be better served in other areas.”

The board had been “kicking around the idea” for a few months, Anderson said, before it came together last Thursday for the vote.

Anderson pointed out that it may not be the last of Crimestoppers in Lincoln County.

“Somebody can always start it again if the need arises,” she said.