Finance & Business World

The Epilepsy Foundation of the St. Louis Region is merging with the Epilepsy Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri, which is based in Kansas City, Mo.

Both are affiliates of the national Epilepsy Foundation, which approved the merger.

The newly merged entity, named the Epilepsy Foundation of Missouri and Kansas, will have an administrative office in St. Louis and an office in Kansas City, with intention to expand into Kansas within the next two years, according to Darla Templeton.

Templeton, who was president and CEO of the St. Louis chapter, will take those roles in the new merged group.

Because of the economy, donations and funding are down, she said. “We thought if we merged, we could streamline and be more efficient and effective with just one executive director or CEO for both,” Templeton said.

She said the board of the Kansas City-based group had gone through a series of executive directors, and “from their perspective, without a very positive results.”

The Kansas City group has been without an executive director since April 2009.

In April, the Epilepsy Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri sued its former executive director, Sean Taylor, claiming he diverted about $80,000 of foundation funds for his own use, according to the suit. Seema Chawla, an associate with Bryan Cave in Kansas City representing the foundation, confirmed Friday that the suit is pending.

David Gitt, formerly on the board of the St. Louis chapter, will chair the new, merged board, which will number 16.

The operating budget for the combined chapters is about $700,000, Templeton said.

The St. Louis affiliate is accredited by Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and holds the seal of the Better Business Bureau, the group said. Both organizations are members of United Way.

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