~ Press release from SVEC
In its latest round of giving, Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round Up Committee on Jan. 29 awarded more than $15,000 in grants to area organizations.
Operation Round Up is the cooperative’s charitable giving program. A committee of nine members and one cooperative employee review grant applications from nonprofits, schools and civic organizations, awarding those it feels are most deserving of financial support.
Funds for Operation Round Up come from all co-op members who voluntarily choose to round up their monthly bills to the nearest even dollar. The first cycle of 2020 grant recipients, by county, were:
Augusta County
Beverley Manor Middle School – For the counseling department to purchase binders for students whose families cannot financially afford to buy them.
Habit for Humanity of Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro – To provide critical home repairs for at-risk seniors in the area.
Valley Career and Technical Center – Toward the purchase of a Farm Bots Farming Machine, which will be used to grow vegetable crops for the center’s culinary arts program.
Page County
Page Alliance for Community Action – To offer free swimming lessons for disadvantaged elementary-age youth.
Rockingham County
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County – For support on matching volunteer “bigs” with young “littles” and to expand services to more than 100 children on the waiting list.
Briery Branch Community Club – To make safety upgrades to its community center.
People Helping People – To provide financial assistance to people who find themselves struggling to meet basic needs while homeless, between jobs or underemployed.
Shenandoah County
Family Promise – For H.U.S.H. (Help Us Stabilize Housing), an ongoing project that supports and assists families as they work on becoming stable and self-supportive again.
Shenandoah County Health Ministries Coalition – To support funding of the services of Faith Community Nursing, which provides ministry and promotes wholistic health to many members of small, rural churches with aging populations.
St. John Bosco Outreach Program – To provide financial aid for utilities, rent, medicine, food and lodging. More than 1,000 needy families are in the database.
Winchester/Frederick County
Gore Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. – Toward the purchase of a new heart monitor/defibrillator.
Highland Food Pantry – To supplement the emergency financial aid budget to provide food and other assistance in need and to engage the community in the fight to end hunger.
Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum – To enhance the Native American Longhouse of the Eastern Woodlands exhibit, such as adding costumes, pretend food items and a make-believe fire pit.
Sinclair Health Clinic – To support and deliver quality health care services to low-income residents.
Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter – To help cover medical expenses incurred by volunteer nurses, EMTs and certified nursing assistants who provide basic care.
Winchester Education Foundation – Toward the Emil & Grace Shihadeh Innovation Center, which will train and equip youth and adults to meet the demands of the regional job market. It is scheduled to open in 2021.
Operation Round Up launched in the fall of 2017. To date, about $70,000 in contributions have been made. Additional information, including the methods in which people can contribute to the program, is available at www.svec.coop/ORU. Applications for the next grant cycle are now being accepted and are due on June 17.
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