Four County EMC and N.C. Electric Cooperatives Receives National Recognition for Bright Ideas Grant Program
February 22nd, 2010
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) recently honored the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives with a National Community Service Award for Youth Programs.
The statewide association received the award for “Bright Ideas,” an educational grants program administered by co-ops, including Four County EMC. The award was presented at NRECA’s 2010 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Ga, in February. Since the inception of the Bright Ideas grants program in 1994, electric cooperatives in North Carolina have awarded more than $7 million to deserving teachers in schools across the state to sponsor almost 6,400 classroom projects. In 2009, co-ops received nearly 2,000 applications and collectively distributed $580,000 in grant money to North Carolina teachers. Four County EMC awarded 24 projects totaling $19,860 in 2009 and $258,856 to teachers in our area since the program’s beginning in 1994.
“Bright Ideas is just one example of the many things that Four County EMC and the rest of the state’s electric cooperatives do for the communities in which they serve. We are proud to receive national recognition for the Bright Ideas teacher grant program and are honored to be a part of an organization that so strongly stands for the value of commitment to community,” said Gay Johnson, Director of Corporate Communications.
“An investment in schools is a long-term investment in the community,” said F.E. “Wally” Wolski, president of the NRECA Board of Directors. “North Carolina’s electric cooperatives have touched the lives of nearly one million North Carolina students with Bright Ideas grants and, during this recession, helped to fill a widening gap in rural education budgets.”
The North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives is a corporation that provides trade association services to the state’s 26 electric cooperatives, which collectively deliver electricity to 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.
Four County EMC serves over 32,500 members in Bladen, Duplin, Pender, Sampson, Columbus and Onslow counties.