Through the contributions of Lake Country Power's participating members, the Operation Round Up® Electric Trust Board recently approved $50,357 in assistance to local community programs during its quarterly meeting.
The cooperative’s Trust Board reviewed and considered 33 grant applications and distributed funds to 28 projects and programs this past quarter.
All funds generated through Operation Round Up® are set aside in a trust fund. A voluntary Trust Board of nine co-op members administers the trust. Of the funds collected through the program, 100% is distributed to charitable organizations through an application and selection process. The Trust Board uses special guidelines and policies when choosing recipients. Since the program’s inception, more than $3.8 million in contributions have been given.
Most Recent Recipients
- Tower Community Thanksgiving Dinner
- Cotton Volunteer Fire Department
- Deer River Area Food Shelf
- Ellsburg Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.
- Ely Community Resource
- Ely Winter Festival
- Foster Love Closet
- Friends of the Eveleth Public Library
- Friends of the Superior National Forest
- Friends of Wirtanen Pioneer Farm
- Hibbing Historical Society
- Holy Trinity Quilters
- Lighthouse Christian Academy
- Mesabi Symphony Orchestra
- Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Shelf
- Northeast Range School
- Old School Lives
- Patchwork Pals
- Project READ
- Queen of Peace Quilters
- St. Louis County Volunteer Rescue Squad
- Star of the North Skating Club
- Tourist Center Senior Citizens, Inc.
- Tower-Soudan Civic Club
- Tower-Soudan Historical Society
- Township of Balsam
- Walker Area Food Shelf
- Wee Care Sewers
Operation Round Up® is a charitable program unique to electric co-ops, which is designed to provide financial assistance to worthwhile activities and community projects by “rounding up” members’ electric bills to the nearest dollar. The average donation of each participating Lake Country Power member is less than $6 annually.
Among Lake Country Power’s 44,000 members, 70% of all active electric accounts participate in the program through voluntary contributions. Interested members can opt into the Operation Round Up® program by calling the cooperative at 800-421-9959.
The electronic application process is available at www.lakecountrypower.coop (My Cooperative > Community > Operation Round Up®). The next application deadline is November 15.