Flint Energies donated $63,500 to Schley County Commissioners and other organizations to support several community development efforts within the county. Flint made the contribution from funds generated by its former consumer-members’ unclaimed capital credits.
“Since our inception as a rural electric cooperative, Flint Energies has worked to improve the quality of life for our members. Over the last few years, we have focused our efforts on one rural county each year that can benefit from community development funds,” said Flint VP of Cooperative Communications Marian McLemore. “We believe that the grants we awarded today will benefit many Schley County residents and their families.”
Flint’s President & CEO Bob Ray and Susan Poole, Community Investment Liaison presented checks at the Schley County Courthouse in Ellaville on Monday, November 4, 2019. Schley County Commissioners received the bulk of the community development funds with $43,000. The monies will be used to improve the county’s recreation efforts by restoring tennis courts and a gazebo located on Highway 26.
Schley County 4-H received $8,000 to support a leadership development program which will benefit approximately 35 students each year for two years.
Schley County Chamber of Commerce was granted $3,000 to continue their Youth Leadership Program that began with the 2019-2020 school year. Schley County Youth Leadership Program is a leadership program for selected high school juniors at Schley County High School. This program is designed to contribute to the development of future leaders. It is managed and sponsored by the Schley County Chamber of Commerce, the Schley County Board of Education and Flint Energies.
Schley County Board of Education was the recipient of a $1,500 grant to support the creation of a robotics team. A current Schley County Youth Leadership Program participant is championing this effort.
Three thousand dollars went to fund two 2020 REACH (“Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen”) scholarships. REACH Georgia is the State of Georgia’s first needs-based mentorship and college scholarship program. The mission is to ensure that Georgia’s low income, academically promising students have the academic, social, and financial support needed to graduate from high school, access college, and achieve postsecondary success.
Schley Community Foundation received a matching grant totaling $5,000 from Flint and one of its lenders, CoBank to replace playground equipment at Edwards Park playground. CoBank’s Sharing Success program doubles the contributions of its co-op customers to the charitable organizations of their choice.
Flint Energies is an electric cooperative that operates at cost. Any excess revenues, called margins are returned to members in the form of capital credits. In some cases, the cooperative is unable to locate former members and the funds are considered abandoned after six years. These unclaimed capital credits are then used by Flint to fund education, economic development and 501(c)(3) charitable organizations in our service territory.