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CO - OP LIVI NG CO-OP PRINCIPLE Continued from Page 5


er, it gives us a warm feeling of stewardship,” Chris Purdy, PTCI’s marketing manager, said. “It’s neat to see two utilities working together and being good stewards of the membership’s funds. That’s what we do—cooperatives give back.”


Giving back is the backbone of a cooperative. By cooperating with each other to strengthen their communities, cooperatives freely exercise the 7th Cooperative Principle: Concern for Community. Four years ago, Kiamichi Electric Cooperative (KEC) in Wilburton, Okla., saw a need in the schools located in their service territory: children of all ages in need of a warm coat for winter. Committed to care for the communities they serve, the Operation Round-Up Board of KEC stood up to the plate to meet this need.


Operation Round-Up is a community outreach program funded by participating Kiamichi Electric members who “round up” their monthly electric bills to contribute to change in the communities where they live. Funds are administered by fi ve vol- unteer trustees who represent the counties where KEC provides electric service. Next year, KEC’s Op- eration Round-Up program will celebrate reaching over $1 million in contributions to communities in KEC’s service territory.


According to KEC’s Member Services Representa- tive Todd Minshall, one of the initiatives supported by the Operation Round-Up program is a winter coat drive. Now in its fourth year, KEC’s coat drive reaches out to local schools in the counties of Lat- imer, LeFlore, Pittsburg, northern Atoka and north- ern Pushmataha.


Minshall said local schools are asked to provide a list of sizes and genders to KEC for the purchase of coats.


“I try my best to buy the coats in local stores to nourish our local economies,” Minshall said. “I also pay attention to buy different types of coats, so the children receiving the coats are not recognized as the ones who had a coat donated.”


The entire coat drive operation lasts approximate- ly one month when all the data is collected, all the shopping is done, and coats are delivered. Although it turns out to be an intense month, the staff at KEC says it is worth every minute of it. “We have a heart for rural schools,” Minshall said. “Sometimes a teacher will come to us and say, ‘You should have seen the smile on the child’s face when they received the coat,’ and that really warms my heart.” KEC’s Operation Round-Up programs contribute to other causes that involve health, emergency ser- vices, youth, and senior citizens. KEC partners with local ministerial alliances and food banks to provide food items to those in need. A backpack food pro- gram is also supported by KEC.


“This is our cooperative difference: we are proudly committed to the communities we serve,” Jim Jack- son, KEC’s CEO, said. “Concern for community is at the heart of what we do. At the end of the day, it brings us joy to know we have made a difference in someone’s life.”


To learn more about KEC’s Operation Round-Up or to apply for a grant, visit www.kiamichielectric. org. To learn more about how YOUR cooperative is committed to the communities it serves, visit your co-op’s website through http://www.oaec.coop/ about_us/index.cfm?page=ourmembers. OL


Kiamichi Electric Cooperative’s Member Services Representative Todd Minshall delivers coats to Katie Blagg, superintendent of Whitesboro Schools.


Courtesy photo/KEC


Photo couresty Karen Kaley/Cotton Electric Co-op 6 OKLAHOMA LIVING


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