Fallen Lineman Blake Rodgers Memorial Scholarship Established With Help From The Community Foundation of OEC

Pictured Left to Right: Kent Eldridge, CEO, Buckeye Rural Electric; Doug Miller, VP Ohio's Electric Cooperatives; Brandie Hale, Blake's mother; Brandon Hale, Blake's stepfather; Derek Brown, Post Secondary Director, Scioto County Career Tech Center; Krista Smith, Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Buckeye Rural Electric.
Blake Rodgers, age 22, died December 23, 2023, while working to restore power during Winter Storm Elliott.

Lucasville, OH—The memory of Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative lineman Blake Rodgers will live on at the school where he began his training thanks to a scholarship established in his namesake.

The Community Foundation of Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives presented a $13,000 
check to Scioto County Career Technical Center Tuesday, May 23, to advance the Blake Rodgers 
Memorial Scholarship. 

On December 23, 2022, Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative lineman Blake Rodgers lost his life 
while restoring power during Winter Storm Elliott. In honor of Blake’s memory, the scholarship 
will help pay tuition fees for students attending the power line mechanic program at the Scioto 
County Career Technical Center in Lucasville, Ohio, where Rodgers attended.

Rodgers’ mother and stepfather, Brandie and Brandon Hale, attended the presentation, along with 
representatives from Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives and Buckeye Rural Electric.

“Blake touched so many lives in one way or another. Through the scholarship fund, we intend to 
keep Blake’s memory alive by continuing to help others, as Blake would have,” said Brandie Hale. She and her husband will also be donating high-voltage detectors to any scholarship recipient.

“The Community Foundation is honored to be able to provide financial resources in Blake 
Rodgers name, to help future students obtain initial training as they begin to pursue a career in 
a field that is so vital to all of us. Our lives and businesses depend on electricity every day and 
linemen make it possible to receive this essential service,” said Doug Miller, Vice President, 
Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives and The Community Foundation. 

The funds donated by The Community Foundation of OEC were raised from the sale of Ohio 
license plates honoring fallen lineworkers. Plates can be purchased when owners register their vehicles.

For information on how to donate to the Blake Rodgers scholarship fund, visit The Blake Rodgers Memorial Scholarship Facebook page. 

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