Blue Ride Electric Foundation Gives $56,000 to Families in Need of Heating Assistance
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 (March 9, 2009) - A family of four faces a financial crisis when both parents are laid off from local industries. The bills keep piling up. Some are overdue. Mom and Dad want to keep their children warm, especially during this hard winter. What's a family to do?
In an effort to help its members cope with situations like this, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, through its Members Foundation, is providing $56,400 for heating assistance this year. That includes an extra $10,000 set aside by the Foundation's Advisory Committee who realized an economy continuing to struggle may have dire effects on local families trying to pay bills.
The cooperative traditionally budgets funds annually for each of its four districts for crisis assistance with electric bills and the purchase of heating fuels; in fact, $40,757 was made available for 2009 to members throughout the service area. Because many local residents have lost jobs or are affected by an economy continuing to recover, these funds have already been almost totally depleted and more people than ever are faced with bills they cannot pay. Many are trying to figure out just how to survive.
Due to the economic downturn, the Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation Advisory Committee, a group of 12 members from the four primary district service areas of Blue Ridge Electric, decided to reserve an extra $10,000 to help members get through the winter. These crisis heating funds are available to members facing serious financial problems.
Blue Ridge Electric's emergency assistance program provides $100 once a year per qualifying member household in need of electric bill assistance, or for a fuel purchase. Blue Ridge Electric relies on local helping agencies to identify and select members to receive the crisis assistance funds. Members seeking help must be approved by their local Departments of Social Services (in Ashe, Caldwell and Watauga counties) and the Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission (BROC) in Alleghany County. Funds are being divided among the four counties according to need.
Funds distributed by the Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation come from members who support Operation Round Up, a Blue Ridge Electric program that relies on members' voluntarily rounding up electric bills to the next dollar amount and donating the change to the Foundation. The cooperatives' long time member assistance program was renamed Operation Round Up in 2006 and since more than $250,000 has been contributed. The Members Foundation was established in 2006 by the Blue Ridge Electric Board of Directors to dispense Operation Round Up funds through the electric bill, fuel and home weatherization assistance programs. At that time, the Foundation also expanded purpose of the program by awarding grants to non-profit organizations that provide services which improve the quality of life for Blue Ridge members and local communities. More than $140,000 has been awarded to 41 organizations during the Foundation's first four grant cycles.
"Our Board felt strongly that the cooperative should do all that we can to help our members who need assistance and to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve," said Doug Johnson, Blue Ridge Electric chief executive officer, in explaining why the Members Foundation was formed. "We are extremely grateful to the thousands of Blue Ridge members who participate in Operation Round Up to provide assistance to their fellow members. By joining together in the cooperative spirit, we can make a difference in the lives of friends and neighbors.
"Blue Ridge Electric has followed the philosophy of 'members helping members' since it was established in the 1930's, and we are proud to continue to carry on this tradition," said Johnson.
Members wanting to apply for crisis heating assistance should contact the Departments of Social Services in Ashe, Caldwell and Watauga counties, and the Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission (BROC) in Alleghany County. Members wanting to participate in Operation Round Up can call their local Blue Ridge Electric office or sign up online at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.
