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Stearns Electric Association is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

ST. JOSEPH BRANCH OFFICE: 29643 Frontage Road, PO Box 816

St. Joseph, MN 56374-9856 (800) 448-1737 | (320) 363-4630

MELROSE HEADQUARTER OFFICE: 900 Kraft Drive SE, PO Box 40

Melrose, MN 56352-0040 (800) 962-0655 | (320) 256-4241

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: 4/11/2018 For more information contact: Whitney Ditlevson, Communications & Marketing Specialist wditlevson@stearnselectric.org (800) 448-1737 | (320) 363-4630 | direct (320) 433-4895

Operation Round Up contributes $48,900 to 87 local organizations St. Cloud, Minn.; April 11, 2018:

Stearns Electric Association’s Operation Round Up Program contributed $48,900 to area organizations and charitable causes. Since the program’s inception in 1993, Operation Round Up (ORU) and Stearns Electric members have awarded over $2.1 million to local non-profit organizations and community service programs. Through Operation Round Up, Stearns Electric Association gives its member-owners the opportunity to give back to the community by rounding up their monthly electric bill to the nearest dollar. The round up funds, no more than $11.88 per year, per member, are placed in a trust fund that is administered by a Trust Board comprised of Stearns Electric member-owners. Funds are distributed three times per year in March, July and November. Trust Board members met on March 14th to review applications and funding requests for the first time this year. Eighty-seven organizations were selected and awarded funds ranging from $100 to $1,500 in this round of applications. Among the contributions, nineteen local food shelves received $1,500 each to coincide with the March Campaign, sponsored by Minnesota FoodShare, to match statewide food shelf donations dollar for dollar. Additionally, the Trust Board voted to provide all 22 area high schools within the Stearns Electric service territory with $250 each to support drug and alcohol-free school lock-ins following the schools’ graduation or prom.

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OPERATION ROUND UP – PAGE 2 Locally, the following organizations received funding in March 2018: Catholic Charities Emergency Services; The Salvation Army; Anna Marie’s Alliance; Becky’s Troop Care Packages; St. Cloud Area Circle of Parents; Apollo High School; Cathedral High School; St. Cloud Technical High School; Granite City Gearheads; Partner for Student Success; Saint Cloud Amateur Radio Club; National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) St. Cloud; National MS Society, Midwest Chapter; and Apollo High School Trap Shooting Team. Visit stearnselectric.org for more information on the Stearns Electric Operation Round Up Program, including a complete list of recipients for March 2018.

Photo caption –Operation Round Up Trust Board member Joyce Pappenfus; Charlie Chirhart, St. Cloud Amateur Radio Club; Rebecca Stommes, St. Cloud Area Circle of Parents; Sandy Nadeau, Anna Marie’s Alliance; and Adam O’Doherty, Partner for Student Success

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Stearns Electric Association is a member-owned electric cooperative. Since 1937, Stearns Electric Association has provided electricity and related products and services to Central Minnesota. Today, Stearns Electric Association serves 26,000 members in six Central Minnesota counties including Stearns, Todd, Morrison, Kandiyohi, Pope and Douglas. For more information about Stearns Electric Association, please visit www.stearnselectric.org