Concern for community
The heart of cooperative spirit lies in community for Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives
The twinkle of festive lights, colorful wrapping paper, bows and ribbons help bring a little extra holiday joy to many Oklahoma households. Opening gifts with excitement on a crisp chilly morning is a tradition steeped in gratitude and generosity.
Unfortunately, many Oklahomans often go without holiday gifts and lack basic needs. However, rural electric cooperatives often step up to help members and truly live out an important cooperative principle: Concern for Community.
Whether it’s through volunteering, providing services or donating funds to nonprofits, the following three co-ops represent positive models of giving back to the community. In interviews with Oklahoma Living magazine, each co-op representative said something similar: giving back is at the heart of a cooperative.
Central Rural Electric Cooperative:
Operation Round Up
Through the Central Community Foundation and Operation Round Up, Central Rural Electric Cooperative (Central) has given back $1 million in funds to its community. Central has been awarding money to individuals and organizations in its service area since 2006 and surpassed the million-dollar milestone in 2020.
“To give back and be part of the communities we serve is part of an electric cooperative’s blood, and the Foundation allows us to do that,” says Jillianne Tebow, Central’s vice president of business development and marketing. “We couldn’t do that without our members. It is our members’ money. They are the ones choosing to make that impact and help their neighbors.”
Through Operation Round Up, Central members round up their monthly electric bill. The accumulated funds are then distributed every other month to individuals or groups in five different categories: disaster relief, personal needs, health care, education and community purpose. For members rounding up, the maximum amount they donate annually is just $11.88.
“That’s if you donated 99 cents every month for a year, and it means you’re part of a million-dollar impact,” Tebow says. “That’s huge.”
One of the organizations that has received funding through Operation Round Up is The Chosen House, a faith-based sober living home for women based in Chandler. Marri and Kim Battle co-founded the organization and say the support from the Central Community Foundation has helped them tremendously.
“One year, they gave us laptops. Another year they helped us with our storm shelter. Then this year, we got money to help us with the new home that we’re currently building,” Kim Battle says. “That’s going to help us get more girls into the new house. The house will be completed in February.”
The Chosen House helps women by giving them a place to stay and recover for up to nine months for free. They also offer various classes on things like finances, life skills and nutrition. With the help from Central’s giving program, Marri and Kim say they’re excited to be able to help more women.
“We don’t have government grants or anything like that so we basically run on private donations,” Kim says. “We’re just so fortunate that they have this program, and I always refer people and other organizations to apply because they’re a great organization and the donations help so much.”
Ozarks Electric Cooperative:
Ozarks Cares
Ozarks Electric Cooperative, which is based in Arkansas and serves several Oklahoma communities, has been giving money back to the community for a long time. Since 2002, they’ve raised almost half a million dollars for nonprofits in its service area. In 2015, they fittingly named their giving program “Ozarks Cares” with a focus on volunteering, giving and educating. To raise funds, employees can donate monthly, on a payroll basis or as one-off donations. The money raised is then matched by the co-op and distributed annually to four nonprofits – three in Arkansas and one in Oklahoma.
“In 2016 was our first Ozarks Cares winner in Oklahoma, and every year since we’ve given money to at least one organization in Oklahoma,” says Erin Rogers, manager of marketing and communications. “They have received anywhere from about $6,000 to $8,000 or more. In a small community, that definitely makes a huge impact. We are all about being a community partner.”
“That’s just the nature of a cooperative’s role, to care for our community,” Rogers says
Though Ozarks serves two different states, money from Oklahoma employees goes directly to fund Oklahoma organizations. In fact, employees nominate and then vote on which local nonprofit will receive a financial grant.
Last year, Oklahoma employees decided to donate $8,272 to Orchard Road Community Outreach in Stilwell. The organization helps individuals and families who are going through difficult hardships with shelter, meals and resources.
In 2021, Ozarks provided nearly $11,000 to Come to the Table, a small ministry that feeds people experiencing homelessness in the Stilwell area. Ronnie and Brenda Hale started the group to help their fellow neighbors.
“The donation from Ozarks and their employees will allow us to feed more and more each week,” Brenda says in a 2021 Ozarks Electric Cooperative newsletter. “We will not have to worry about our food budget for a while now.”
Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative: CVECares
Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative (CVEC), which serves members in the East Central Region of the state, makes it a priority to care for its communities. In fact, they have an entire committee dedicated to that goal. The CVECares Committee helps organize quarterly blood drives, Thanksgiving baskets, back to school drives, veteran baskets, grants for nonprofits and much more.
Funding for these services comes directly from employees, who can opt in to donate $5 a month to help fund the CVECares Committee. Money donated by employees is matched by the cooperative.
“If we see a need in the community, we try to do our best to fill it,” says Beth White, who serves on the CVECares Committee.
“We’ve provided things or services to people who’ve lost their homes in fires, suffered a loss in their family, things like that. People go through rough times, and I think CVECares helps provide reassurance that people are there to help. That’s what we’re here for.”
Lacey Holt is the executive director for Legacy Parenting, a nonprofit that provides resources and education to parents. They have an “earn while you learn” program in which parents receive education and earn points that can then be spent to acquire items like baby clothing and diapers. Legacy Parenting also offers emergency diaper assistance four times a year. Holt says they serve approximately 450 babies per month, which translates to about 33,000 diapers.
“Every year that I’ve been here, I have applied for the CVECares grant, and we’ve received a financial grant once or twice,” Holt says. “But this year, they actually did a diaper drive for us, and they gave us 1,120 diapers. When we have people offset that inventory cost for us, it’s huge because a thousand diapers for a drive is a thousand diapers that we didn’t have to use our precious, small budget to purchase.”
Holt says some CVEC employees have even started volunteering at Legacy Parenting after learning about the work they do to support families.
“It’s just amazing. Just the fact that they have a committee that cares, that in itself speaks volumes about their hearts to serve,” Holt says. “If you can empower someone, when they come across someone in the community in need, they’re going to remember how they were helped and empowered. That’s just going to keep going. It’s the gift that keeps giving.”
Through giving back to their communities, each of the three examples reflect the value of being an Oklahoma electric cooperative. By its very definition, a co-op is all about sharing resources and striving for the common good, something that’s always important but especially fitting during the holiday season.
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