The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $92,275 in grants during their July meeting, including $82,500 to agencies serving area residents.
$15,000 to the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia in Athens for its monthly Mobile Pantry Program, which distributes large quantities of food before its expiration date through partner agencies in seven counties served by Jackson EMC, eliminating the need for the agencies to store the food and allowing the Food Bank to distribute thousands of pounds of food to those in need at a fraction of the cost.
$15,000 to the Hi-Hope Service Center in Lawrenceville to help fund part-time nursing and nutrition services for 20 developmentally disabled residents from Gwinnett and Barrow counties, providing services such as daily medication, insulin, blood checks and specialized medical treatment to residents who require onsite nursing care.
$15,000 to View Point Health, a Gwinnett County agency providing support to clients with behavioral health conditions, addictive diseases and developmental disabilities, to provide uninsured and underinsured clients with primary and specialty health care by assisting with copays for office visits, lab work, and pharmacy screenings through Four Corners Primary Care.
$10,000 to the Gwinnett Council for the Arts to help fund The Healing Arts, an art-centered program for people who are facing or in the midst of a medical, physical or emotional crisis that provides a safe outlet for them to come to terms with emotional conflicts, increase self-awareness and express unspoken and often unconscious concerns about their illness and lives.
$10,000 to Lilburn Cooperative Ministry to provide 40 needy families with $250 assistance for rent or mortgage payments annually, helping them to avoid foreclosure or eviction.
$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, Jackson and Lumpkin counties who have little or nothing for their newborns.
$7,500 to Ser Familia, a comprehensive social services program in Buford for Latino families in Gwinnett, Hall and Barrow counties, to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health counseling services, including domestic violence, sexual abuse, and suicide counseling.
Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made possible by the more than 182,800 participating cooperative members who have their monthly electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount through the Operation Round Up program. Their “spare change” has funded 1,107 grants to organizations and 334 grants to individuals, putting more than $11.2 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.
