Capital Electric awards Operation Round Up grants
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June Brown (center), board director of |
Operation Round Up is a voluntary program set up for co-op consumers, with the participants agreeing to have their monthly electric billings “rounded up” to the nearest dollar each month. Those rounded-up pennies are then placed in the Capital Electric Charitable Trust to be awarded to various groups and organizations. Almost 6,000 electric customers of Capital Electric Cooperative participate in Operation Round Up, generating almost $3,000 a month in funds for the Trust. Since its inception in August 1997, more than $255,000—25.5 million pennies—in Operation Round Up funds have been donated to various organizations and individuals in and around Burleigh and Sheridan counties.
A five-person board of directors meets twice a year to review grant applications and determine their worthiness.
Those who received grants from the Charitable Trust on Feb. 21 included:
- Abused Adult Resource Center: to help offset the costs of the Rural Outreach program
- Baby Things Boutique: to purchase baby items for families in need
- Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church: to help an individual with medical and utility bills
- Bismarck Mandan Orchestral Association: to underwrite the cost of local musical concerts
- Bismarck Mandan Tennis Association: to subsidize the Junior Matchplay program
- Bismarck Youth Baseball: to help reduce the overall playing fees for kids
- Cathedral of the Holy Spirit: to help a disabled individual cover housing needs
- Century Baptist Church: to help a disabled individual cover overdue bills
- Dakota West Arts Council: to support the Art Venture program for kids
- Grimsrud Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization: to help replace playground equipment
- Guardian & Protection Services: to assist with care monitor expenses for vulnerable clients
- Morton County 4-H Club: to subsidize the purchase of riding helmets
- N.D. Association for the Disabled: to help fund the costs of “Escape to the Lake”
- Pet Connection Humane Society: to help cover ongoing operational expenses
- Police Youth Bureau: to help cover the costs of youth worker training
- Prairie Rose State Games: to help with the expenses of the 20th anniversary games in Bismarck
- Ruth Meiers Hospitality House: to support housing units for single women and families
- Shiloh Christian School: to provide financial aid to kindergarten students
- Sleepy Hollow Summer Theatre: to provide education classes and help cover the cost of the annual musical production
- Sterling Rural Fire Department: to help purchase a utility bed for a rescue truck
- United Tribes Technical College: to provide additional scholarship funding
- Wilton Senior Center: to help replace the shingles on the center’s roof
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Gordon Felchle, board director of the |
“The Charitable Trust allows Capital Electric Cooperative to show our commitment to our extended communities, and to invest in the people and businesses in and around our service area,” says Paul Fitterer, business manager of Capital Electric Cooperative.
Cut line: Gordon Felchle, board director of the Capital Electric Charitable Trust, awards a grant to Cindy Sheldon of the North Dakota Association for the Disabled. The money will be used to cover expenses associated with “Escape to the Lake,” a two-day water skiing event for people with disabilities.