Grant helps fund five-day building blitz

Flathead Electric’s Roundup For Safety program helped make it possible for 400 young people from around the United States to make repairs to the homes of nearly 70 elderly, disabled or low-income residents in the Columbia Falls area.

Roundup For Safety awarded a $10,000 grant to Northwest Montana Human Resources, Inc., to purchase building materials for a volunteer Group Workcamp crew that spent five days in the area in July.

The young people built wheelchair ramps, repaired steps, roofs and lighting and painted for elderly, disabled and low-income homeowners. The community raised $20,000 (including the Roundup For Safety grant) that was matched by Group Workcamps to purchase materials for the building blitz.

The Group Workcamp project is just one of 243 funded by the Roundup For Safety program since its inception in 1998. A Volunteer Board of Directors representing each of the Co-op’s nine districts considers applications for safety projects submitted by non-profit groups throughout the Co-op’s service area. More than $819,000 has been awarded under the program.

For the past several months, applications for funding have exceeded the amount of monthly income.

"I’m just thrilled to death that the program’s taken off, that we’ve got more applications coming in than we have funding," said Dawn Polotto, Roundup For Safety representative from District 1. "It just shows that it’s a very worthwhile program and a strong program."

Under the program, participating members allow their monthly electrical bills to be "rounded up" to the nearest dollar, with the extra money going into a special fund earmarked for safety projects. The average annual donation is $6 per member.

Roundup For Safety has funded a variety of safety-related projects benefiting young people, senior citizens, schools and other community groups.

"You just couldn’t find a better way to be able to go out there and help people and improve safety throughout the communities," Polotto said. "I have never been prouder to serve on any board than I am with this one."

Applications Received

& Approved:

Media Production $5,000.00

 Fencing $500.00

2 Applications Tabled