GSW Foundation awarded grant from Sumter EMC Foundation

Published 10:22 am Wednesday, September 12, 2018

From Staff Reports

AMERICUS — The Georgia Southwestern Foundation was recently awarded a grant in the amount of $5,000 from The Sumter Electric Membership Corporation Foundation Inc. (Sumter EMC) to establish an annual scholarship fund for students.
Two worthy students at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) will be recipients of this new scholarship come fall semester. The students should reside (or family resides) in the Sumter EMC service area and have achieved junior or senior status in the area of science, education, nursing, business or accounting.
“We are grateful for the ongoing investment from the Sumter EMC Foundation in Georgia Southwestern,” said GSW Foundation Executive Director Reda Rowell. “We are excited to have an annual scholarship to aid our deserving students. I look forward to hearing and sharing stories of appreciative students who will benefit from their generosity.”
“One of the seven guiding principles that govern the way Sumter EMC operates is involvement in the communities we serve,” said Greg Crowder, chairman of the Sumter EMC Foundation. “This project is a great example of how good things happen when people in a community work together for a common goal. Through this grant from our Foundation, Sumter EMC is proud to provide scholarship funds to commendable students.”
The Sumter EMC Foundation has generously provided support for other resources in recent years to GSW — from equipment in the nursing labs to fitness and wellness equipment in the fitness center.
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 $962,200 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.
Through fundraising and prudent fiscal management of assets and gift accounts, the GSW Foundation provides resources to Georgia Southwestern State University. The GSW Foundation is dedicated to the advancement of Georgia Southwestern.