Operation RoundUp - Small Change ($) That Changes Lives

One of the most fundamental characteristics of Garkane Energy Cooperative is  our close relationship with the communities in which we serve. We have an essential responsibility to the people in our service area that goes beyond simply providing reliable electric power.

That is why we are so pleased to share with you the details of an exciting community service program we would like to utilize called Operation Round-Up®.

Simply stated, Operation Round-Up® gathers voluntary contributions from participating co-op consumers by “rounding up” their monthly bills to the next dollar. For example, a consumer’s monthly bill of $52.73 would be automatically rounded up to $53.00, with the additional 27 cents going to the Operation Round-Up fund - resulting in an average donation of roughly six dollars ($6.00) per year, which will be distributed to worthy local charitable purposes.

This may seem like small change, but multiplied by our more than 11,000 consumers, it is “small change" that changes lives®. Every donation will be made to applicants right in our own local area, and all of the contributions will go to worthwhile causes in our own communities, not for the administrative costs of running the program. Typically, the funding is used to address crucial needs such as charities, youth scholarships, community needs, etc., but it is not limited to these categories. Operation Round-Up® funds may not be used for political purposes.

What is most rewarding about the concept of Operation Round-Up® is that it is an extension of the concept of neighbor helping neighbor that built our electric cooperative. Operation Round- Up® helps co-op consumers reach out to worthy causes in their communities and work together to help others.

You can sign-up now by using the Member Participation Sign-up Form. Remember, participation is voluntary, but we urge all cooperative members to contribute to this very worthy cause. Please sign-up and help make your small change, change lives® in your community. If you're not one of the more than 400 members currently contributing to Operation Round-Up®, start now. By the end of this month the Operation Round-Up® fund will top $4,300. When this fund first began, contributions totaled only a few dollars per month. Contributions now total over $190 a month. Garkane has over 11,000 consumer/members (residential and business).

If each of these consumer/members rounded-up their monthly utility bill and contributed to this fund, Operation Round-Up® could raise $2,000 to $3,000 per month. It is exciting to think how this program will benefit the many communities Garkane serves. We hope to begin making Operation Round-Up® donations to communities within the next few years.