MiEnergy Cooperative members give $8,250 in local donations; program surpasses $200,000 milestone

MiEnergy Cooperative’s Operation Round Up Trust Board met recently and elected to donate $8,250 to the following local organizations:

• $1,700, Mabel/Newburg United Methodist Church, Mabel, Minn., to help Mabel-Canton K-2 teachers purchase books for their students.
• $1,500, Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail, Lanesboro, Minn., to launch a free guided hike series called Driftless Discovery.
• $1,000, Foster Adopt MN, St. Paul, Minn., to purchase clothing and shoes for local children in foster care.
• $1,000, Social Concerns Committee of St. John’s Food Shelf, Wykoff, Minn., to provide meat sources for the food shelf’s local families.
• $1,000, Trinity Lutheran Church, Spring Grove, to support the Summer Eats! program for students.
• $750, Winneshiek County Historical Preservation Commission, Decorah, Iowa, to help create a digital guide of notable historic sites in Winneshiek County.
• $500, Home and Community Options, Winona, Minn., to support the Resource Home for children and young adults with disabilities.
• $500, Trinity Lutheran Church, St. Charles, Minn., to purchase warm hats, socks and gloves for unhoused and low-income individuals.
• $300, South Bear School, Decorah, Iowa, to purchase LED stage lighting.
   

The Operation Round Up program also marked a milestone with grant giving in September with over $200,000 given to local organizations since its inception in 2002. The first year it gave out $1,800. Currently, the program gives approximately $16,000 each year to local organizations.

Operation Round Up is funded by donations made by members of MiEnergy Cooperative who voluntarily have their electric bill round up to the next dollar. The average donation is $6 per year, 2,600 MiEnergy members participate and 100% of the funds generated are granted to local organizations. The program is based on the idea that small change adds up.

The Operation Round Up Trust Board, made up of MiEnergy members, chooses where the funds get donated, and the amount of the donation is based on an application process. The trust board members include Ann Brogan, of St. Charles; Dan Dietzenbach, of Fort Atkinson; Beth George, of Houston; Sandy Gronwoldt, of Riceville; Dawn Hauge, of Winona; Dennis Ostwinkle, of Decorah; Teresa Ross, of Hokah; Tom Tibor, of Minnesota City; and Jay Wheelock, of Fountain.

Donations to Operation Round Up are tax deductible. Organizations receive grants through an application process. 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/operation-round-up 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 5,600 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 19,300 members in northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. MiEnergy is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative.