For Immediate Release

MONROE, Ga. – The generosity of Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) customer-owners continues to have an astounding effect on local communities. Even more astounding is the fact that tiny donations – an average of only 50 cents – are making these huge impacts.

Customer-owners who participate in Operation Round Up allow the cooperative to round their monthly electric bill to the next dollar. This small change is pooled into large amounts that a volunteer trust board oversees. Every penny goes to those in need – Walton EMC pays all administrative costs.

Here is the latest round of donations:

• Citizen Advocacy Athens (Clarke) – $1,500 for advocate recruitment and support program that fosters one-on-one relationships with developmentally disabled citizens
• Oconee County 4-H – $3,500 for Cloverleaf, Junior and Senior Project Achievement
• Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry – $15,000 for their emergency feeding and financial assistance program
• Huffman House, Inc. (Barrow, DeKalb, Gwinnett) – $3,500 for their Food for Friends program
• Rachel's Gift, Inc. (DeKalb, Gwinnett, Morgan, Newton, Rockdale, Walton) – $2,500 for grief assistance to families who have lost an infant
• AIDS Athens (Barrow, Clarke, Greene, Morgan, Oconee, Walton) – $2,000 for their women's project support group
• Set Free After-Care Ministry (throughout Walton EMC's service area) – $1,500 for transition assistance and ministry for released inmates
• Family Promise of Gwinnett County, Inc. – $3,500 for their emergency shelter for single women and children
• Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (throughout Walton EMC's service area) – $4,500 for patient financial aid
• Oconee Area Resource Council (Oconee) – $4,000 for their mentoring program
• Project ReNeWal (Newton, Rockdale, Walton) – $2,995 for their domestic violence shelter
• Books For Keeps (Clarke) – $2,000 for their summer reading program
• MTU-EduCare of Georgia (Gwinnett, Walton) – $2,000 for their tutoring/mentoring program
• Safe Place Atlanta, Inc. (DeKalb, Gwinnett) – $1,000 for their domestic violence shelter
• The Salvation Army (throughout Walton EMC's service area) – $10,000 for their emergency feeding program
• Fragile Kids Foundation (Walton) – $3,600 for a pediatric stroller/wheelchair
• In addition, Operation Round Up helped 12 families with emergency needs totaling $20,769.58.

Walton EMC is a customer-owned power company that serves 120,000 accounts over its 10-county service area between Atlanta and Athens. Its subsidiary, Walton EMC Natural Gas, serves natural gas accounts statewide. Another subsidiary, EMC Security, serves 36,000 customers across North Georgia.