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Jackson EMC Foundation awards $68K to agencies serving Hall County residents
0425COMMUNITY
A $10,000 Jackson EMC Foundation check to the Gainesville Housing Corp. will enable low-income and at-risk youth to participate in the RISE Summer Program. At the check presentation are, from left, Jackson EMC Foundation board member Phillippa Lewis Moss, RISE Administrator Maria Calkins, Gainesville Housing Corp. Director Beth Brown and Jackson EMC District Manager Bill Sanders.

The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $112,450 in grants during their March meeting, including $68,450 to agencies serving Hall County residents.

• $12,450 to Three Dimensional Life in Gainesville, a nonprofit organization that provides a 10-month residential recovery for young men 14-19 years old from Banks, Clarke, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties who are struggling with destructive behaviors, to provide 200 family counseling sessions.

• $12,000 to St. Vincent De Paul Society in Flowery Branch for its Aid Hot Line program, which provides emergency aid to South Hall and North Gwinnett families in crisis for rent, mortgage and temporary housing to prevent homelessness and disrupted lives.

• $12,000 to St. Vincent De Paul Society in Gainesville to help fund direct aid for housing assistance, including rent, mortgage and temporary housing for Hall County families in crisis.

• $12,000 to YMCA of Georgia’s Piedmont in Winder for its Summer Day Camp to enable 20 children ages 5-13 from economically disadvantaged families in Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties to attend a 10-week day camp that provides a safe environment and nurturing quality programs for young people that might otherwise be “latchkey” kids during their schools’ summer break.

• $10,000 to Gainesville Housing Corp., which provides affordable living environments, improved quality of living, economic opportunities and fair housing to working poor families of Hall County, to provide quality programming through the RISE Summer Program for low-income and at-risk youth of Gainesville and Hall County.

• $7,500 to Hope for the Journey Inc., a compassionate community cancer outreach program in Lawrenceville that works closely with the American Cancer Society to provide support, meals and educational materials to children and adult cancer victims and their families in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties.

• $2,500 to Gainesville/Hall County Food Pantry to purchase food from the Atlanta Community Food Bank and the Georgia Mountain Food Bank for distribution to those in need in Hall County.

Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made possible by the more than 184,800 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 1,177 grants to organizations and 343 grants to individuals, putting nearly $12 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.