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The circle of giving...you give and you receive. That is the philosophy behind Sioux Valley Energy's Operation Round Up program. After only eight years, participating members and employees have awarded more than $600,000 to worthwhile causes throughout the cooperative's service territory. The concept is easy...participating members agree to have their electric bill rounded up to the next highest dollar and that money is collected for Operation Round Up. Many Sioux Valley Energy employees also help by deducting a small amount from their paychecks. Nearly 75 percent of our members and employees participate in the program.
Operation Round Up is administered by a non-profit trust, the Sioux Valley Energy Customers' Trust, which was initiated in the fall of 2000. The purpose of the trust is to acquire, accumulate and disburse funds for charitable and educational purposes as permitted by Section 501 (c) (3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Your community, your school, and/or your nonprofit organization may be eligible for funding. Each quarter, the Board of Directors, volunteer representatives of each county, to review grant applications and make awards based on criteria guidelines of the Trust. Not all proposals are funded, and not all applications are funded at the full funding request.
The region served by the Trust includes the seven-county Sioux Valley Energy service area, as well as adjacent neighborhoods within the outer boundaries of the cooperatives service area. Money must also be spent within these boundaries. The electrical service area includes Rock and Pipestone counties in Minnesota, and Brookings, part of Kingsbury, Lake, Moody, and Minnehaha counties in South Dakota.
The major funding categories of the Sioux Valley Energy Customers' Trust include lending assistance to community service projects, economic development programs, education and youth initiatives, environmental concerns, and emergency energy assistance. These funds are also available, should the need arise, to provide disaster relief.
Examples of the types of organizations who have received funding in the past are daycare associations, schools, nursing homes, sports clubs, vocational schools, youth groups - scholarship programs, humanity programs, fire departments, cities, special needs for individuals, and senior dining programs.
The easy-to-complete grant application may be picked up at any one of the three Sioux Valley Energy offices: Brandon, Colman, and Pipestone or by downloading from this website.
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