Many Ashe County Residents Getting Benefits Because of Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation Grant

For Immediate Release

Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; Pager: 1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener

West Jefferson, North Carolina (June 10, 2008) – A significant number of people in Ashe County are enjoying the benefits of additional healthy food these days because of the thoughtfulness of Western North Carolina residents who are members of the Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation.

Ashe Outreach Ministries Inc. in Warrensville, one of several organizations to receive grants from the Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation in 2007, conducts a special program to help with nutritional needs of school children in the county. Each Friday, the program provides 15-pound packages of food to 276 school pupils to help provide nutritious meals for them and their families over the weekend. The grant has been used to purchase food and expedite delivery of backpacks to four Ashe County public schools.

The Rev. Rob Brooks, director of the Ashe Outreach Ministries, says the grant from Blue Ridge helped his organization leverage additional funds and increase efforts to make the program even more successful. Providing weekend food packages to school pupils began with a pilot program through the Second Harvest Food Bank, he explained. When Ashe Outreach Ministries applied for a grant in 2007, the effort had changed and evolved to 170 youngsters. It now includes the 276 pupils who receive backpacks of food every Friday.

“We include good family staples and there is enough for a couple of complete family meals,” said Brooks. “It is our hope and prayer that this food gives families a good reason to sit around the table for fellowship, companionship and prayer on a regular basis.”

Many of those who get the food backpacks are the working poor, he said. “No matter how hard you work, at $8 an hour the money can’t go very far, what with car payments, mortgage payments, high gasoline prices and all of the other daily expenses all families have.”

Among Ashe Outreach Ministries’ other efforts to assist people in mountainous Ashe County is a Farmers Market scheduled to begin May 22 at Riverview Community Center. Initial plans call for the market, featuring locally produced foods, to be open Thursdays from 1 to 6 p.m. throughout the summer months.

The Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation was created in 2006 to increase Blue Ridge’s commitment to its “Members Serving Members” philosophy in the communities it serves. Foundation grants do not come from any monies co-op members pay for electricity. The funding comes from the co-op’s Operation Round Up program and from other donations, including a $25,000 donation from Blue Ridge Energies, the cooperative’s heating fuels subsidiary.

When co-op members voluntarily join Operation Round Up, they agree to have their monthly electric bills rounded up to the next dollar amount. The difference between their actual bill and the next-highest dollar amount is their tax-deductible contribution. The monthly contribution from any member might be as little as a penny and can never be more than 99 cents.

Such small contributions might not seem like much individually, but with the spirit of cooperation of thousands of members throughout the territory served by Blue Ridge, they total tens of thousands of dollars. In 2007, the Foundation made more than $60,000 in grants to organizations in Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga and Caldwell counties. This year, the organization hopes to be able to make more than $100,000 in grants to help citizens of the territory it serves.

The school children’s food program is not the only one to receive funding by the Foundation in Ashe County. In a project funded in part by a Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation grant, Ashe Services for Aging Inc. (ASA) plans by July to have a shaded playground area completed at its West Jefferson headquarters. The area is designed to encourage an increase in physical activities by participants of both Child Day Care and Adult Day Care.

ASA’s main mission is to help elderly and disabled adults, children with developmental disabilities and other youngsters maintain independence and enhance their emotional, social and physical well-being. Patricia Calloway, ASA’s director of children’s services, said the Blue

Ridge grant helped the organization obtain other funds needed for the project.

“We were very excited to get the money” from the Foundation, she said. “This will help make our space much more useful and because of that we are very thrilled about it. We are getting the equipment ordered and expect to have everything set up no later than July.”

ASA executive director Jane M. Banks said her organization served nearly 19,000 individuals and families in the county in 2006. Programs included child and adult day care, home-delivered and congregate meals, in-home services, health screenings and Senior Center and CAP programs.

The Foundation expects to make more than $100,000 in grants in 2008, including the following recently approved grants worth $50,000:

Greater Lansing Area Development, $4,000. To develop a park area in the downtown area that would be part of a walking trail already in place.
Hibriten High School Baseball Field Renovation, $5,000. To support the baseball field renovation currently underway, particularly the construction of a covered hitting cage.
Southern Appalachian Historical Association, $1,500. To purchase two new lighting dimmer packs.
Alleghany Trail Blazers, $500. To support a therapeutic riding program for mentally and physically handicapped people.
Alleghany County Group Homes, $2,650. To purchase a computer for Compensatory Education and Basic Skills classes at WCC.
Caldwell Friends, Inc., $5,000. To expand services to at-risk youth by providing weekly group mentoring to referred youth.
Children’s Playhouse, $500. To provide five scholarships for low-income families.
Cove Creek Farm, $1,200. To build an Outdoor Education Pavilion to serve residents who are working to overcome addictive behavior.
Solid Rock Food Closet, $4,000. To support a weekend food program for needy families and a summer feeding program.
Alleghany Partnership for Children/Child Care Resources, $1,000. To purchase required children’s car seats for low income, high risk families.
Ashe County Free Medical Clinic, $3,650. To purchase 295 prescriptions to be dispensed through the clinic in 2008.
Lenoir Soup Kitchen , $3,500. To purchase a Hot Table (serving table) that will ensure hot food for participants in the free lunch program. The table costs $3,500.
Watauga Chapter, American Red Cross, $2,500. To help purchase an emergency response vehicle
Appalachian Senior Companion Program, $5,000. To support general annual funding of the program which is designed to provide an opportunity for senior citizens to remain active in the community by assisting other seniors who are at risk of losing their independence. Senior Companions serve other
Ashe County Library, $10,000. To assist the county build and furnish a new public library. This supplements a larger corporate donation made by Blue Ridge Electric.

As a member-owned, non-profit cooperative, Blue Ridge Electric has a mission of providing members’ electric and energy services reliably, efficiently and with outstanding customer care. With the spirit that is typical of people in Northwest North Carolina, co-op members through their Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation are helping boost the quality of life for countless others in their area.