From STAFF REPORTS

AMERICUS — The Sumter Electric Membership Corporation Foundation Inc. recently awarded a grant in the amount of $1,600 recently to the Georgia Southwestern Foundation Inc. Proceeds from the grant will be used to purchase computers for the debriefing room of the nursing lab in the nursing department.
“One of the seven guiding principles that govern the way Sumter EMC operates is involvement with education and training in the communities we serve,” said Greg Crowder, chairman of the Sumter EMC Foundation. “Through this grant from our Foundation, Sumter EMC is proud to be part of the effort to equip the nursing lab with the latest technology to help properly prepare the nursing students for the environment they will eventually work.”
Reda Rowell, executive director of the Georgia Southwestern Foundation Inc., said, “We are so grateful to the Sumter EMC Foundation Board of Trustees for their responsiveness to the needs of the GSW School of Nursing, and their continuous support of Georgia Southwestern State University.”
The Sumter EMC Foundation was founded in 2003, and is funded exclusively by cooperative members participating in Sumter EMC’s Operation Round Up®. Every month Sumter EMC ‘rounds up’ the electric bill of participating members to the next whole dollar amount and deposits the difference into an interest bearing account. The proceeds of the account are administered by the Sumter EMC Foundation’s board of trustees through grants to local schools, civic and charitable organizations. One hundred percent of the money collected is given back to the community through these grants. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $856,000 to community organizations in Sumter EMC’s service territory.
Sumter EMC is a locally owned and operated electric cooperative serving Chattahoochee, Dougherty, Lee, Marion, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell and Webster counties.