Five organizations serving Hall County have been awarded $59,000 in grants by the Jackson EMC Foundation, funded by cooperative members’ participation in Operation Round Up.

The Georgia Mountain YMCA in Gainesville has received a $15,000 grant, which will allow 40 underprivileged children to take part in the agency’s after school program.

Habitat for Humanity of Hall County has received a $15,000 grant for a program that teaches high school students construction skills, while building homes for area residents in need.

The Hall County Health Department has been awarded a $15,000 grant to provide affordable prenatal health care for low-income, uninsured women in Hall, Lumpkin and Banks counties.

The Gainesville/Hall County Alliance for Literacy has been awarded a $10,000 grant to improve area residents’ literacy and prepare those who have not completed high school with classes to prepare for the GED exam.

Gainesville’s ProMusica Concert Series has been awarded a $4,000 Jackson EMC Foundation grant to help provide its Young People’s Concerts and continue its Community Outreach Partnerships.

Grants are made possible by Jackson EMC members’ contributions to the Operation Round Up program, which rounds up electric bills of participating members to the next dollar amount and uses the spare change to do charitable work. The foundation has awarded nearly $3.2 million to date through 284 grants to organizations and 124 grants to individuals.