Community Helping Agencies Receive Foundation Grants

LENOIR, NC (January 10, 2017)…Caldwell County citizens will benefit from grants totaling $14,000 awarded in December from Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation to local helping agencies for the most recent grant cycle.

The grants are examples of why the cooperative – recently rebranded as “Blue Ridge Energy” – established the Members Foundation in 2006 to support the work of community organizations providing services that improve the quality of life for the cooperative’s members. Projects in the areas of health, wellness, education, youth, and economic and community development are the Foundation’s priorities for support.

A total of $80,000 was awarded to 16 different organizations across the Blue Ridge service area during the December grant cycle. Local Caldwell County organizations receiving grant awards include:

• Helping Hands Clinic – $5,000 to support two separate programs: an urgent care clinic and a high-risk diabetic clinic
• Koinonia, Inc. – $3,000 to help purchase and install an HVAC unit to cool the common areas that serve as areas of socialization for residents
• Oak Hill Development, Inc. – $1,500 to assist with upgrades and beautification efforts in the 34-year-old rural Oak Hill Park
• South Caldwell Christian Ministries – $2,000 for food purchases for six new mobile food pantries
• Caldwell Senior Center – $2,500 to help fund the Medication Assistance Program – an interface between doctors, drug companies and low income seniors.
An additional multi-county grant of $3,734 was awarded to “State Employees Credit Union Family House” to assist families and caregivers traveling to Forsyth County for healthcare.

During 2016, the Foundation also provided crisis funding assistance to more than 1,000 Blue Ridge Energy members in need of emergency help to pay their electric bills. While crisis assistance is funded by the Foundation, local helping agencies evaluate needs and determine who qualifies for assistance.

Funding for Foundation grants and crisis assistance comes from members participating in Blue Ridge Energy’s Operation Round Up® and Operation Round Up Plus® programs as well as an annual contribution from the profits of Blue Ridge Energy, LLC, the cooperative’s heating fuels subsidiary. Over 28,000 members are either rounding up their monthly electric bill with Operation Round Up or adding a dollar or more with Operation Round up Plus.

Anyone with questions about the Foundation or agencies interested in applying for grants may contact Grey Scheer, director of community relations, at 828-759-8994 or gscheer@blueridgeemc.com.

Blue Ridge Energy is a cooperative utility serving some 74,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Avery, Wilkes and Alexander counties. For more information, visit www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.