MiEnergy Cooperative’s Operation Round Up Trust Board met in September and elected to donate $4,200 to the following local organizations:
•$750, St. Mary’s School, Caledonia, Minn, to help purchase LED laser classroom projectors.
•$750, Lanesboro Arts, to provide audio and lighting equipment for the Lanesboro Gateway Park Amphitheater.
•$500, Bent Needle Quilting Club, Houston, Minn, to provide supplies for making quilts for local veterans.
•$500, City of Rushford, to purchase updated lighting for the community’s holiday Christmas tree on top of Magelssen Bluff.
•$500, City of Spring Grove, to help purchase native wildflower seeds for the Roverud Park Pollinator Planting Partnership.
•$500, Toys Go ‘Round Lending Library, Decorah, Iowa, to help purchase equipment for a toy washing station.
•$500, Winneshiek County Historic Preservation Commission, Decorah, Iowa, to support preservation of the last dam gate from the Lower Dam of Winneshiek County through an outdoor exhibit.
•$200, Decorah Quilts of Valor to help purchase supplies for making quilts for veterans.
Operation Round Up is funded by donations made by members of MiEnergy Cooperative who voluntarily have their electric bill rounded up to the next dollar. The average donation is $6 per year and 1,900 MiEnergy members participate.
The program is based on the idea that small change adds up. Since 2002, the program has given over $120,000 in grants.
The Operation Round Up Trust Board chooses where the funds get donated and the amount of the donation based on an application process. The trust board members are: Neil Broadwater, Winona, Minn.; Janelle Mahr, Lime Springs, Iowa,; Larry Hafner, La Crescent, Minn.; Allen Hanson, Preston, Minn.; Margaret Knutson, Houston, Minn.; Roy Kryzer, Lewiston, Minn., Shannon Schmelzer, Cresco, Iowa; and Perry-O Sliwa, Decorah, Iowa.
The next application deadline is February 15. To learn more about Operation Round Up or to round up your electric bill, visit www.MiEnergy.coop or call 1 (800) 432-2285.
MiEnergy Cooperative is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative and is the result of a merger between Hawkeye REC, of Cresco, Iowa and Tri-County Electric Cooperative, of Rushford, Minn. in 2017. It maintains 5,500 miles of power lines covering most of Fillmore, Houston and Winona counties in Minnesota and Chickasaw, Howard and Winneshiek counties in Iowa. The cooperative also serves small pockets bordering those counties. It provides electricity to more than 18,800 members in northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. MiEnergy is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative.