Caldwell, Catawba County Groups Receive Grants From Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation

Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; or E-mail: Renee Whitener

Lenoir, North Carolina (December 12, 2008) – Several Caldwell County organizations received a welcome gift this week: grants from the Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation.

Accepting grant checks during a breakfast reception at Blue Ridge Electric’s Caldwell office were, from Caldwell County: Adult Life Programs, Inc., $4,000, to build a patio area for the purpose of increasing sociability and programming options for the elderly and adults with disabilities, and to also enable children from a nearby preschool to visit with the adults; Caldwell County Health Department, $2,533, to purchase furnishings for the Patient Counsel Room; Helping Hands Clinic, $4,000, to purchase “GAP” medications for patients which provide brand-name medications that do not have an available generic and therefore must be ordered from the pharmaceutical company’s Patience Assistance Programs; and from Catawba County: the Rape Crisis Center of Catawba County, $2,000, to provide educational materials for all ages and visual aids for health fairs.

Grants to help each of the organizations were made possible by the Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation, created in 2006 by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation to expand the cooperative’s commitment to help local communities. The Foundation enables Blue Ridge to help worthy causes in its service area.

For this current grant cycle, grants totaling more than $29,133 were awarded to 11 local organizations.

The Foundation also funds crisis assistance to help Blue Ridge Electric members in need of help paying their electric bill and weatherization assistance. More than $34,000 has been given to deserving households this year. While funded by the Foundation, crisis assistance is determined by local helping agencies such as the Department of Social Services who can best evaluate need and qualifications.

Foundation grant monies come from Operation Round Up as well as from donations from the cooperative’s heating fuels subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies. Through Operation Round Up, Blue Ridge members voluntarily choose to have their monthly electric bills rounded up to the next-highest dollar amount. The difference between the two figures – from a penny to a maximum of 99 cents – is the monthly tax-deductible gift.

Local groups in the Blue Ridge service area who would like to apply for a Members Foundation grant should visit the Community tab of www.BlueRidgeEMC.com or call Patty Wheeler, Foundation Manager, at (828) 754-9071, Ext. 4207.