Wright-Hennepin members donate to local organizations

Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association (WH) members who participate in Operation Round Up (ORU) donated grants totaling $61,500 in June. ORU has awarded more than $5.1 million since it began in 1994.

ORU participants allow their electric bills to be rounded up to the nearest dollar. The rounded amount is then used for donations supporting local programs. Approximately 90% of WH’s members participate in the ORU program, contributing a total of almost $20,000 each month. ORU’s board manages the donated money, which is held in a trust fund. Through a selection process and review of guidelines, the ORU trustees evaluate funding requests on a bimonthly basis.

The ORU trust board donated the following on behalf of WH members at their June meeting: • $10,000 — Community Action Partnership of Hennepin County, funds to provide low-income energy assistance.

• $10,000 — CROSS Services, funds to purchase refrigerator unit for straight truck.

• $10,000 — Wright County Community Action, funds to support energy assistance.

• $10,000 — Wright County Crisis Nursery, funds to support program and transportation expenses, nursery care, and advertising.

• $6,000 — Community Toys for Tots, funds to supplement the toy donations in age groups that are short.

• $5,000 — Rivers of Hope, funds to support youth and adults suffering from domestic violence.

• $5,000 — Thumbs Up High 5K, funds to support after school programming for mental health support.

• $4,000 — Relate Counseling Center, funds to support mental health needs of high-risk, low-income clients.

• $1,500 — Improve Your Tomorrow, funds to support young men of color to attend college and university.

Those interested in ORU funds can learn more about the types of activities ORU supports and find the grant application by visiting bit.ly/WH-ORU, emailing oru@whe.org, or calling Lisa Zipp, ORU Trust Administrator, at 763-477-6126.

Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric utility that provides power to rural Wright County and western Hennepin County. The cooperative has been a corporate citizen to the area since 1937 and currently serves more than 59,000 electric accounts. It is headquartered in Rockford.