Charles Warner
Editor
UNION — Donations from an electric cooperative’s charitable foundation are helping three local organizations make the holidays brighter for needy families in Union County.
Barbara Pridemore, Broad River Electric Charities board member, recently presented checks for $500, $1,500 and $2,000 to WBCU Truck Full of Toys, the Union County Baptist Association, and The Potters Storehouse, respectively. The donations were part of $25,000 in donations Broad River Electric Charities made to charitable and community service organizations in the Upstate.
In addition to the donations to the Union County organizations, Broad River Electric Charities also donated funds to The Voice of Triumph, Peach Center Ministries, Feed the Community, Miracle Hill Ministries, Operation Restoration, Upstate Family Resource Center, Christmas For Kids, and the American Red Cross.
“The needs are great in our communities, especially around the holidays,” said Barbara Whitney, Broad River Electric Charities board chairperson, said in announcing the donations. “These organizations are doing all that they can to help our neighbors.”
Truck Full of Toys
WBCU Truck Full of Toys is a toy drive for the children of needy families in Union County.
“The money will be used to buy toys for children in Union County who might not otherwise get toys for Christmas,” Chris Woodson, WBCU general manager, said Wednesday. “We’ve already ordered some toys and once the truck is full, we’ll turn the toys over to UCARE for distribution.”
Woodson said WBCU has been running its Truck Full of Toys campaign for the past decade. In addition to monetary donations like that from Broad River Charities, Woodson said Truck Full of Toys accepts donations of toys.
“We’re now accepting donations of toys, we have boxes set up at the Main Street, Duncan Bypass and Monarch branches of Arthur State Bank for people who want to drop off toys,” Woodson said. “Union Pre Owned is offering $2 off on oil changes for people who bring in a toy for donation.
“We will also be accepting donations at the remotes we will doing from 10 a.m. to noon at Wal Mart on December 1 and 8,” he said. “Our truck will be in all the Christmas parades and people are welcome to place donated toys in the truck at that time as well.”
Woodson said one load of toys will be given to UCARE on Dec. 10 after the Union Christmas Parade. The second and final load will be turned over to UCARE on Dec. 14.
“I want to thank Broad River and all our other sponsors for making this possible,” Woodson said.
If a family is not already on another organization’s distribution list, Woodson said they can call Ronnie Wade at the Union County Airport at 429-1680 and be placed on the Truck Full of Toys distribution list.
For more information on donating toys or making a monetary donation to Truck Full of Toys, call WBCU at 427-2411.
Union County Baptist Association
The Union County Baptist Association is an association of 29 Baptist churches in Union County that seek to minister to the needs of the community through collective efforts.
One of those efforts is the association’s Crisis Ministry Network and Rev. David Blanton, director of missions, said Wednesday that the funds donated by Broad River Charities will go toward helping the ministry meet the need of families in crisis.
“It was donated to our Crisis Ministry Network,” Blanton said. “This is a ministry that we have for the citizens of Union County who are going through a crisis and are unable to pay their utility bill or rent or need food assistance. That $1,500 Broad River gave us will go into that fund to assist people with those needs.
“This is a ministry of all 29 of our member churches in Union County,” he said. “People that are in need of assistance go to one of our member churches first and get a referral form. Then with that referral form they come to our office and we have volunteers who will assist them. Our Crisis Ministry Network hours are Monday and Wednesday from 10 to 11:30.”
Blanton said that while the Crisis Ministry Network is funded primarily by the member churches of the association, the generosity of organizations like Broad River Electric Charities is greatly appreciated.
“Most of the funds come from member churches, but when we have great benefactors like Broad River we pass on that blessing to families that are hurting and need assistance,” Blanton said.
For more information about the Union County Baptist Association and its Crisis Ministry Network, call 427-8443.
The Potters Storehouse
On Tuesday, The Potters Storehouse distributed food to approximately 900 needy families, many of whom received turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner.
Pastor Don Moore said Wednesday that the donation from Broad River Electric Charities played an important role in the success of the distribution.
“It went toward our Thanksgiving distribution and toward paying our utility bill,” Moore said. “We were able to provide everyone Tuesday with a turkey or a ham or roast or some other type of meat. We were able to get our power bill caught up. We’re just very thankful for Broad River’s generosity. Their donation helped encourage others to donate and that enabled us to have our Thanksgiving distribution for nearly 900 families.”
Located in Jonesville, The Potters Storehouse distributes food to needy families twice a month. For more information about The Potters Storehouse and it food ministry, call 864-680-3465.
Broad River Charities
Donations to the selected charities come from Broad River Electric’s Operation Round Up program. Each month, participating member’s account balances are rounded up to the nearest dollar. That extra change goes to the benevolent fund that assists organizations and goodwill missions in and around Broad River’s service area.
Funds from Operation Round Up are distributed through Broad River Electric Charities, Inc, which is governed by a 7-member board representing the cooperative and the three major counties it serves — Cherokee, Union and Spartanburg. Since its inception in 2010, Broad River Electric Charities has donated nearly a quarter-million dollars. Organizations wishing to request funds can contact the cooperative to begin the application process.
Broad River Electric Charities is a philanthropic subsidiary of Broad River Electric Cooperative, which serves more than 20,000 members in Cherokee, Spartanburg, Union and Newberry counties in South Carolina and Cleveland, Polk and Rutherford counties in North Carolina. As a non-profit, member-owned utility, Broad River Electric Cooperative strives to be a consumer advocate for the people that use the energy we distribute.
Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@heartlandpublications.com.
Post a Comment
