The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded $57,000 in grants during its February meeting, including $42,000 to nonprofit agencies.
*$15,000 to the YMCA Piedmont (Brad Akins Branch) for its Summer Day Camp to enable 20 children ages 5-13 from economically disadvantaged families in Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties to attend an 11-week day camp that provides a safe environment and nurturing quality programs for youths that might otherwise be “latchkey” kids during their schools’ summer break.
*$11,000 to L.A.M.P. Ministries in Gainesville for its Community Youth and Children’s program, three-month sessions open to young people ages 7-17 that combine group counseling and community activities to provide high risk youths in Hall and Jackson counties with a positive alternative to gangs, drugs and other delinquent behavior.
*$6,000 to 100 Black Men of North Metro Atlanta for its “Men of Tomorrow” program in Gwinnett County that provides underserved youth age 12-18 years of age with mentor/role models and education in life skills, healthy living, financial literacy and African American history to help these young men improve academics, attitude, graduation rate and goal setting.
*$5,000 to the Athens Regional Foundation to enable twenty uninsured or underinsured patients from an area covering Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Franklin, Gwinnett, Jackson, Madison, and Oglethorpe counties to participate in the “Power to Change”, an individualized educational program for diabetic or pre-diabetic individuals that enables them to adhere to a meal plan, manage foot self-exams and reduce their HbA1c number.
*$2,500 to the ALS Association of Georgia for its Equipment Loaner Program, which provides equipment not typically covered by insurance, Medicare or Medicaid at no cost to individuals living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a degenerative neurological disease, from all counties served by Jackson EMC.
*$2,500 to the Gainesville/Hall County Community Food Pantry to purchase food from the Atlanta Community Food Bank and the Georgia Mountain Food Bank for distribution to those in need in Hall County.
Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made possible by the more than 182,300 participating cooperative members who have their monthly electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount through the Operation Round Up program. Their “spare change” has funded 1,053 grants to organizations and 325 grants to individuals, putting more than $10.6 million back into local communities since the program began in 2005.
Any individual or charitable organization in the 10 counties served by Jackson EMC (Clarke, Banks, Barrow, Franklin, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison and Oglethorpe) may apply for a Foundation grant by completing an application, available online athttp://www.jacksonemc.com/foundation-guidelines or at local Jackson EMC offices. Applicants do not need to be a member of Jackson EMC.
