PPEC donates “Round Up” proceeds

VW independent staff/submitted information

PAULDING — Members of Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative recently donated $13,332 to 13 local charities and community projects through the cooperative’s Operation Round Up program. The list includes a pair of recipients in Van Wert.

Thanks to the 80 percent of members who round up their electric bill and donate to this fund, PPEC has provided more than $710,900 to northwest Ohio and northeast Indiana communities since 2010.

Participating members round up their monthly electric bill to the next dollar, with the extra pennies being used to help fund charities and groups in their communities. Each quarter, the funds are dispensed to local causes that applied for funding.

The most recent donation recipients include:

• Antwerp Local Schools: $1,000 to purchase adjustable desks and chairs for the special education resource room.
• Columbus Grove Pleasant Township Joint Fire District: $1,215 to purchase a water straining system to ensure water pumped into the trucks is free of rocks and other materials.
• Family Promise of Lima: $1,500 to purchase air mattresses, pumps, sheet sets, and bed covers.
• Friends of the Grover Hill Library: $1,500 to help replace and repair their water system.
• Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana: $1,000 to purchase classroom kits.
• MAV Youth Mentoring: $1,000 to support the Buddies Program and One on One matches.
• Ottawa Head Start: $1,000 to purchase outdoor learning space activities and play station.
• Paulding Chamber of Commerce: $1,000 to support the Trails Project marketing efforts (printed materials, ads on local radio stations).
• Paulding County Opportunity Center: $225 to purchase movie tickets for the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Program.
• Power House Youth Center: $1,000 to purchase a refrigerator for the after-school program.
• Vantage Career Center: $1,300 for the Toss a Toy program for local kids.
• Van Wert VFW Post 5803: $592 to replace a freezer.
• Wayne Trace Schools (Payne and Grover Hill Elementary): $1,000 to purchase sensory items.

Organizations can apply for Operation Round Up assistance by contacting Paulding Putnam Electric Co-op’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Samantha Kuhn, at skuhn@ppec.coop or by visiting www.ppec.coop/operation-round. PPEC members wishing to participate by rounding up their monthly bill should call PPEC’s office at 800-686-2357. The average member’s donation is about $6 per year.

Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative serves more than 13,000 members in Paulding, Putnam, Defiance, Van Wert, and Allen counties in Ohio, and Adams and Allen counties in Indiana.