JEFFERSON - The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $112,500 in grants to organizations during its March meeting, including $92,500 to organizations serving area residents.
*$15,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Hall County, to purchase HVAC and electrical equipment, cabinets, flooring and lighting for its Home for a Hero project, which is constructing a home for a disabled veteran on land donated by a family that lost their home to a fire last year.
*$15,000 to Signs and Wonders in Lawrenceville, a nonprofit organization that offers assistance to the homeless and needy on a non-discriminating basis, to allow 18 homeless men to participate in the addiction recovery program, a two phase drug and alcohol recovery course to help them get back on their feet and re-enter society in a stable, productive manner.
*$12,500 to the Boy Scouts of Northeast Georgia to provide uniforms, handbooks and summer camp fees that will help underprivileged youth participate in scouting, teaching them to make ethical choices and promoting citizenship, leadership, mental and physical fitness.
*$12,500 to the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia to help fund the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, which teaches girls how to understand themselves and their values, use that knowledge to explore the world, care about and team with others, and take increasing responsibility for designing and implementing activities to make the world a better place.
*$10,000 to Tiny Stitches, Inc. in Suwanee, which uses a network of volunteers to make handmade tote bags filled with a 37-item layette that will keep the infant warm and dry for the first 2-3 months of life, donated to mothers in Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties who have little or nothing for their newborns.
*$7,500 to the American Red Cross of East Georgia to provide disaster relief, including food, shelter, personal needs and clothing, to families in Jackson, Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Franklin, Jackson, Madison and Oglethorpe counties who have lost their home to a fire or natural disaster.
*$7,500 to the American Red Cross of Northeast Georgia to provide disaster relief, including food, shelter, personal needs and clothing, to families in Hall and Lumpkin counties who have lost their home to a fire or natural disaster.
*$7,500 to Project Adam, a Winder nonprofit focused on the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug dependency, to help purchase technical services and equipment that will allow the agency to better serve its outpatient clients with programs such as risk reduction, defensive driving, drug-free workplace, and individual and family counseling.
*$5,000 to The Potter’s House, an Atlanta Mission facility, to help feed, house, counsel and provide educational programs such as adult literacy to men who are recovering from substance abuse through an intensive residential program at this 570-acre working farm in Jefferson.
The Jackson EMC Foundation is funded by Operation Round Up, which rounds up the monthly electric bills of participating cooperative members to the next dollar amount. This “spare change” has funded 959 grants to organizations and 309 grants to individuals, putting nearly $9.7 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 at http://www.jacksonemc.com/foundation-guidelines or at local Jackson EMC offices. Applicants do not need to be a member of Jackson EMC.
