SVEC Awards Grants to Area Charities

ROCKINGHAM – In January, Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round Up Committee awarded more than $14,000 in grants to area nonprofit organizations.
 
Operation Round Up is the cooperative’s charitable giving program that addresses crucial needs within our service territory. Member-owners voluntarily round up their monthly bills to the next even dollar, with funds accumulating in a pool of grant money. A committee of nine member-owners and one SVEC employee then reviews grant applications from area organizations twice a year and selects recipients.
 
Organizations awarded grants in January were:
 

• Page Free Clinic – To help pay for dental services at the clinic for Page County residents who normally would not be able to afford such care.
• Blue Ridge Habitat for Humanity – To support multiple families with critical home repair, preservation and weatherization in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
• Catholic Outreach – To help house homeless men and women in Shenandoah County.
• People Helping People – To provide financial assistance to people in Rockingham County.
• Augusta Health Foundation – For the Cancer Bridge Fund, which provides help to cancer patients who are unable to afford the necessities of life during their treatment.
• Rockingham Library Association – To support the Summer Reading Games through the Massanutten Regional Library.
• New Directions – To cover material and labor expenses for a privacy fence at the shelter serving victims of violence in Augusta County and the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro.

 
Operation Round Up launched in the fall of 2017. To date, more than $38,000 in grants have been awarded. Additional information, including the methods in which people can contribute to the program, is available at www.svec.coop/ORU. The next grant cycle is in July.
 
Chartered in 1936, SVEC serves approximately 93,000 meters in the counties of Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren and the city of Winchester in Virginia. Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative was the first electric cooperative chartered in Virginia. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer. SVEC supports our armed services and veterans in employment opportunities.