OPERATION ROUND UP® DONATIONS TARGET COMMUNITY NEEDS

Local organizations continue to benefit from Palmetto Electric Cooperative’s (PEC) nationally-acclaimed giving program, Operation Round Up®. The Palmetto Electric Trust (PET) Board awarded several significant donations with awards totaling $184,500.

(l-r) PET board chairman Ronald Leibel, PEC board member Dr. Earl Bostick, Sr., and PEC president and CEO Berl Davis handing over the keys to Second Helpings Tony Berkant, Maureen Korzik, Peter Moore, Bruce Algar.

Second Helpings, Inc., was awarded $67,000 to purchase a fully equipped refrigerated truck to deliver donated food items to pantries in Hampton County. The truck made its first delivery May 26th to the United Ministries of Hampton County. The PET Board also awarded approximately $10,000 to purchase and install a walk-in refrigerator/freezer to be used in the Ministries’ food pantry.

Operation Round Up has been instrumental in supporting Second Helpings since the organization’s inception in the early 1990’s. “By making the purchase of their first refrigerated truck possible and now several other trucks, we are proud to support their mission and expansion of food delivery throughout Beaufort, Jasper and now Hampton counties,” stated Berl Davis, president and CEO of Palmetto Electric.

Volunteers in Medicine vice chair Deborah Burt thanks Palmetto Electric for the $77,500 grant and presents a plaque to Berl Davis, that will hang in the Ridgeland clinic’s lobby.

The Greater Bluffton Jasper County Volunteers in Medicine received a $77,500 grant to expand their free medical services into Jasper County. The PET Board provided the clinic with a grant to renovate the facility and fund their first year of operations. The new clinic, located in Ridgeland, will serve individuals who are without health insurance, qualify based on income, and live or work in Greater Bluffton or Jasper County.

Berl Davis presents keys to Gladice Jones for the new automobile to transport senior citizens and deliver food for their Meals-on-Wheels program.

In other PET Board action, Jasper County Council on Aging received $15,000 for an automobile to transport senior citizens and deliver food for their Meals-on-Wheels program. A second grant of $15,000 was awarded to the Jasper County Council on Aging to assist with their program expenses. “We are pleased to support these very worthy and vital programs,” stated Davis.

All of these donations are made possible through contributions to Palmetto Electric’s Operation Round Up program. Participants donate an average of $6 a year by rounding their electric bills to the next highest dollar. “We thank the 82% of our membership participating in Operation Round Up. With their support, these important life changing gifts are made possible,” added Davis. Since 1989, over $7 million has been collected in Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton Counties.

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