Members of the McKnight Community Hall Kitchen Renovation Committee pose with a Sioux Valley Energy Operation Round Up check in the hall's 50-year-old kitchen. A campaign is underway to purchase a new stove, cabinetry, countertops, and flooring for the community hub. Pictured from left are Julie Westberg, Gloria Miller, Joe Klein, Mayor Matt Lagerstrom, Tom Lewno, and Judy Smith.
Sioux Valley Energy and its members are investing in local communities by giving a boost to 18 non-profits, schools, and communities. During the most recent quarterly meeting of the Sioux Valley Energy Customers’ Trust Board of Directors, $25,500 in grants were awarded by the Cooperative’s Operation Round Up® program. An additional $6,000 was reserved for scholarships.
Recipients included:
Brandon, South Dakota
- Blessed Redeemer Lutheran Preschool – $1,500 to update the playground
- Brandon Valley Community Foundation – $1,500 to design, produce, and install a permanent recognition and founders wall in the Gene Johnson Community Room at Burkman Elementary School
Crooks, South Dakota
- Crooks Veterans Park – $2,000 to put toward enhancement projects
- Tri-Valley School District/Crooks Elementary – $1,000 to purchase items for the sensory room in the school
Flandreau, South Dakota
- Flandreau Sports Association – $2,000 to purchase sports equipment to use within the facility
Garretson, South Dakota
- City of Garretson – $1,500 funding to help install community pickleball courts and a basketball court adjacent to the ball fields and pool
Hartford, South Dakota
- West Central Education Foundation – $2,000 funding to fund grant requests made by teachers
Luverne, Minnesota
- SHARE – $2,000 funding for a shoe drive, allotting $50 per pair of shoes for children in need
Madison, South Dakota
- Lake County 4-H – $1,000 funding to purchase new rabbit cages
Pipestone, Minnesota
- Ewert Recreation Center (City of Pipestone) – $1,000 funding to update the disc golf course
- Pipestone County Medical Center – $1,000 funding to purchase fleece to make tie blankets to give to children who have surgery
- Pipestone EDA – $1,000 funding to continue childcare providers appreciation events
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Falls Area Bicyclists (FAB) – $500 funding to be used for general operation
- Feeding South Dakota – $2,000 to purchase food for the BackPack program
- Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sioux Falls – $2,500 funding to purchase material to help build one Habitat home in partnership with the CTE Academy of Sioux Falls
Volga, South Dakota
- Volga Christian School – $1,500 funding to help replace and update the play system on the playground
White, South Dakota
- City of White – $1,500 to help with the remodel of McKnight Community Center
More than $2.5 million has been donated to area non-profits, schools, and communities since the year 2000 when Sioux Valley Energy started its Operation Round Up® (ORU) program. The program is simple – participating members “round up” their electric bill to the next high dollar and those “rounded up” funds are placed into a trust. Additionally, many Sioux Valley Energy employees donate from their paycheck each month. Each quarter the Sioux Valley Energy Customers’ Trust Board of Directors meets to review applications and consider grant requests. A list of recent grant recipients, as well as information on how local organizations can apply for funding, can be found at https://www.siouxvalleyenergy.com/operation-round-up. The next deadline to apply for funding is August 20 with grants being awarded in September.
Sioux Valley Energy, a Touchstone Energy® Cooperative, is a member-owned electric utility, providing reliable electric service at cost-based rates to more than 30,000 homes, farms, businesses, and industries in a seven-county area of east-central South Dakota and western Minnesota.