The money is collected a few cents at a time when customer-owners allow their monthly bill to be rounded up to the next dollar. The resulting change goes into a fund administered by a volunteer board. None of this money can be used to pay electric bills. Here are the latest good works being funded by generous Walton EMC customer-owners:
Clarke County Mentor Program – $5,000, community mentor recruitment
Tiny Stitches (Gwinnett) – $5,000, supplies to make infant burial ensembles for disadvantaged newborns
Creative Enterprises (Barrow, DeKalb, Gwinnett) – $5,000, disabled clients fees to attend therapeutic horse riding program
Atlanta Community Food Bank (entire WEMC service area) – $10,000, low-income family food distribution
Loganville Police DARE – $3,000, drug and gang resistance education
Place of Seven Springs (Gwinnett) – $5,000, food, prescription drug and education assistance for families
Food Bank of Northeast Georgia (Barrow, Clarke, Oconee) – $10,000, mobile food pantry
Project Safe (entire WEMC Service area) – $2,000, emergency shelter improvements
Step by Step Recovery (Barrow, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Newton, Rockdale, Walton) – $5,000, addiction recovery program
Walton County 4-H – $9,935, club member participation expenses to attend events
Oconee County Wee Read – $1,200, encouragement of parental reading to young children
Gwinnett County Senior Golden Games (DeKalb, Gwinnett, Walton) – $500, senior adult Olympics
Lawrenceville Cooperative Ministry (Gwinnett) – $15,000, emergency assistance to clients
13 families – $27,552.17, various emergency needs
Walton EMC is a customer-owned power company that serves 121,000 accounts in a 10-county area between Atlanta and Athens.