Broad River Electric Charities has distributed $22,800 from its Operation Round Up® fund to local charities this holiday season. The 17 organizations represent a broad spectrum of causes and ministries, including food banks, toy drives, and fire safety.
Organizations receiving Operation Round Up® funds this cycle include the Broad River Leathernecks, Cherokee County Mental Health Association, Putting God First Christian Ministries, Trinity Baptist Channel of Blessings, Cherokee County Meals on Wheels, American Red Cross, WBCU Truck Full of Toys, Boy Scouts of America, McKowns Mountain Baptist Church, Salvation Army, Union Meals on Wheels, Mobile Meals of Spartanburg, Upstate Family Resource Center, and Midway Baptist Church.
- Broad River Leathernecks, an organization of Cherokee County U.S. Marine Corps Veterans, will use their $800 for an annual toy drive.
- Cherokee County Mental Health Association received $1,000 for the purchase of holiday gifts cards that will be given to the children of their clients.
- Putting God First Christian Ministries will use a $1,500 donation on programs for troubled teens in the Upstate.
- Union County’s Trinity Baptist Church received $2,000 for their food bank and workforce training program.
- Three $2,000 grants were awarded to local programs that deliver meals to the elderly and disabled who are homebound: Cherokee County Meals on Wheels, Union County Meals on Wheels and Spartanburg’s Mobile Meals.
- The American Red Cross will use their $2,500 grant for their Home Fire Campaign in the Upstate.
- Union County’s radio station WBCU received $1,000 to support their annual holiday toy drive for local children, Truck Full of Toys.
- A $1,000 sponsorship of the Boy Scouts of America Clay Shoot will support the activities of Palmetto Council troops.
- Two Cherokee County churches, McKowns Mountain Baptist and Midway Baptist, who send food home with needy school children each received $1,500 for their backpack ministries.
- A total of $3,000 was awarded to The Salvation Army in Spartanburg and Union Counties to help fund their programs.
- The Upstate Family Resource Center, which serves families in Boiling Springs, Inman, and Chesnee, also received $1,000.
“During this time of year there is always a focus on giving and those in need,” said Charities Board Chairperson Barbara Whitney of Spartanburg. “We are so thankful that the members of Broad River Electric donate to Operation Round Up all year, allowing us to make an impact on so many through these wonderful organizations.”
Donations to the selected charities come from Broad River Electric’s Operation Round Up program. Each month, the account balances of participating members are rounded up to the nearest dollar. That extra change goes to the benevolent fund that assists organizations and goodwill missions in and around Broad River Electric Cooperative’s service area.
Funds from Operation Round Up are distributed quarterly through Broad River Electric Charities, Inc, which is governed by a 7-member board representing the cooperative and the three major counties it serves – Cherokee, Union and Spartanburg. Members of the Charities Board are: Daisy Lemmons and Nancy Jordan of Cherokee County, Jane Rhinehart and Barbara Whitney of Spartanburg County, Carolyn Belue and Carol Smith of Union County and Broad River Electric President and CEO Terry Mallard (ex-officio). Organizations wishing to request funds can contact the cooperative to begin the application process.
Broad River Electric Charities is a philanthropic subsidiary of Broad River Electric Cooperative, a non-profit, member-owned distribution cooperative providing services to more than 20,000 members in Cherokee, Spartanburg Union and Newberry counties in South Carolina and Cleveland, Polk and Rutherford counties in North Carolina in order to improve the quality of their lives.