Concern for Community, a founding principle in the cooperative world, particularly resonates with many of us during the holidays. And it’s no wonder, what with all the requests to donate time and resources to charitable causes late in the year. We at South Plains Electric Cooperative encourage our members to give to the causes they hold dear and in whatever ways they can. We’d also like to issue a gentle reminder that many agencies and organizations struggle to keep afloat at other times of the year when offerings aren’t so abundant.
It’s in this spirit and with an unwavering goal of serving our community that South Plains Electric contributes to efforts like South Plains Food Bank, Meals on Wheels and Relay For Life year round. Take a look at our Giving Back page online at SPEC.coop to see thank you notes and pictures from a variety of organizations your cooperative supports.
The holidays are a wonderful time to help those in need, of course, and the spike in giving during the holidays can be immensely helpful. However, many nonprofits would benefit greatly from a more balanced approach to giving.
Whether you have a bit of time or money to spare, think about spreading out your assistance over the course of the year. Modest, regular contributions of time or financial support to an organization of your choosing can be more sustaining than seasonal giving. Many charities offer monthly donation programs.
South Plains Electric’s Operation Round Up program works just like that. Through small, monthly contributions from members, we are able to make a big difference year round in our communities. We have 10 cooperative members who volunteer their time to the Operation Round Up Board. They currently meet three to four times a year and spend over a month reviewing and scoring scholarship applications. We can’t give a big enough thank you to Jane Bednarz, Judy Johnson and Melba Parchman for their dedicated service to the cooperative membership.
The Operation Round Up tagline is “Neighbors helping Neighbors,” which is the cooperative way of doing everything. We are making some changes to the Operation Round Up program to increase member participation and contributions, which in turn will increase the number of good deeds in our local communities.
However you enjoy the beauty of the season, South Plains Electric Cooperative wishes you and yours a very merry Christmas.
