As many communities and families are being impacted economically by the COVID-19 restrictions, one organization is trying to relieve some of those burdens.
Sawnee Electric Membership Foundation, a division of Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation (Sawnee EMC), has approved giving $200,000 to twenty local food pantries within their service area, which includes Hall, Forsyth, Dawson and Lumpkin counties. The donation will allow local organizations to purchase food that can then be given to families in need.
According to a press release from their headquarters in Cumming, the Sawnee Foundation was created with the mission of “providing charitable donations within the Sawnee communities.” Foundation Board Chair, Deborah Pelfrey, says that this decision is really consistent with that overall objective. “We are very pleased that we can help out with these donations. More and more people will soon be showing up at different locations for help, and this money has the potential to help so many people,” stated Pelfrey. “This is the essence of the Foundation and fits perfectly within our mission.”
This donation was made possible by over 18,000 Sawnee EMC members who choose each month to round their electric bill up to the next highest dollar. This “extra change” goes directly into the Foundation and is gifted back into the communities Sawnee serves. Members donate an average of $6 per year, and have allowed the Foundation Board to donate over $3 million back into the communities since it began in 2003.
Sawnee EMC serves electricity to approximately 184,000 accounts in seven (7) counties of greater north Georgia.
