4-County Electric Power Association Foundation has donated more than $1 million in awards to organizations throughout the cooperative’s coverage area, the co-op announced at a meeting at its headquarters Monday.
The foundation formed in 2015 as a service program to support organizations within its coverage area. Since then, nearly 200 organizations have received grants from 4-County, according to a co-op press release.
The grant that put the foundation over the $1 million mark was a $4,500 award for Brooksville Police Department for the purchase of emergency response radios, which BPD accepted at the meeting Monday. The foundation also awarded $6,000 to the Rainwater Observatory in French Camp for an educational programming service; $5,000 to Starkville Habitat for Humanities for the purchase of a truck; $7,000 to Starkville High School Robojackets for travel expenses for regional competition; $1,080 to the Progressive Foundation of Clay County for the Accelerated Reading Program; and $2,695 to the Columbus Soccer Organization for uniforms and training.
The program allows participating 4-County members to round their utility bills to the nearest dollar — as an example, the press release said, a $125.78 bill would be $126 — to raise money and give that money back to emergency response organizations and area nonprofits.
4-County provides service members in Noxubee County and rural parts of Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay, Monroe, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Winston and Webster counties.
4-County CEO Brian Clark called the awards a “monumental achievement.”
“It’s hard to truly measure the impact the 4-County Foundation has had for organizations involved in our service area,” he said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to 4-County members, the Foundation board, the 4-County board and its employees, we’ve been able to enhance the quality of life for our members. … One million dollars given away is special.”
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