Four Hall-based organizations included in latest round of JEMC Foundation grants

JEFFERSON - The Jackson EMC Foundation Board of Directors awarded a total of $82,400 in grants during its May meeting, including $75,700 to organizations serving area residents.<br /> <br /> *$15,000 to Annandale at Suwanee, a nonprofit community serving adults with developmental disabilities or traumatic brain injury, to purchase tablets, desktop computers, projector and smart board that will enable clients to learn daily living workforce readiness skills to maximize their abilities and enable them to successfully live and work independently.<br /> <br /> *$15,000 to Lindsay's Legacy Mentoring, Inc. in Jackson County to help fund the coordinator's position for a program which recruits and trains adult mentors to work with students kindergarten through 12th grade in all three school systems within the county, helping to ensure those young people become healthy, educated and employable.<br /> <br /> *$10,200 to Gateway House, a Hall County non-profit serving victims of domestic violence and their children, to provide emergency legal assistance to request, file and enforce a Temporary Protective Order (TPO) to keep abusive partners from having contact with or harassing victims.<br /> <br /> *$10,000 to Lanier Tech for its Accelerating Opportunities Student Program, which combines GED instruction with English as a Second Language, decreasing the amount of time it takes students to become gainfully employed and increasing Northeast Georgia's work-ready workforce.<br /> <br /> $9,000 to Eagle Ranch, a Chestnut Mountain home for boys and girls in crisis, to help remodel an outdoor fitness area to enable younger girls in two group homes to participate in regular exercise and recreational activities to help them develop self-discipline and establish a healthy lifestyle.<br /> <br /> *$5,000 to Families of Children Under Stress (FOCUS), a nonprofit agency serving children, teens and adults with developmental disabilities and their families, to help provide Camp Hollywood in Lawrenceville, a unique summer day camp where children with developmental disabilities can build social skills, self-respect, character and community living skills.<br /> <br /> *$5,000 to the Quinlan Arts Center, Inc., in Gainesville, to enable about 40 disadvantaged, but exceptional students with exemplary artistic skills entering 1st-8th grades at Title I schools in Hall, Jackson, Gwinnett, and Lumpkin counties attend one-week Art Camp sessions.<br /> <br /> *$4,000 to Nuçi's Space in Athens, a non-profit organization working to prevent suicide, to enable young people from low income families participate in Camp Amped, a summer day camp for northeast Georgia youth ages 11-18 focusing on positive mental health and music education.<br /> <br /> *$2,500 to H.O.P.E., Inc., a Duluth non-profit that serves low-income single parents working to achieve their college degree, to help with childcare and housing when either situation threatens the parent's ability to continue their classes.<br /> <br /> The Jackson EMC Foundation has put nearly $8.7 million back into local communities since it was founded in 2005, funding 859 grants to organizations and 290 grants to individuals. Cooperative members participating in Operation Round Up have their monthly electric bills rounded up to the next dollar amount, with the "spare change" going to the Foundation. <br /> <br /> Any individual or charitable organization in the ten 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 at http://www.jacksonemc.com/foundation-guidelines or at local Jackson EMC offices. Applicants do not need to be a member of Jackson EMC.

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