By Kelsey Ligon
Small change makes a big difference. This is the motto of Boone REMC’s Operation Round Up, a program that collects small change from its members each time they pay an energy bill.
Boone REMC’s members have the option to round up their energy bills to a whole dollar amount, and the difference between what they owe and the rounded up amount gets added to the Operation Round Up fund. With 10,568 Boone REMC accounts participating, those few cents each month add up to a substantial amount.
Since it began in 2006, the Boone REMC Community Fund has distributed $460,000 in grants through Operation Round Up.
“Alone, one or two people might not be able to do that, but together, we can,” said Mandy Saucerman, communications and marketing specialist of Boone REMC.
In February, Boone REMC awarded $3,340 to the Boone Co. Child Advocacy Center and $5,000 to the Sheridan Youth Assistance Program.
The money for BCCAC helped purchase an iRecord digital video and audio recording system. The Center provides a safe space for children to talk about domestic violence, and it uses a similar iRecord system in the upstairs interview rooms.
The new iRecord system is portable, so it can be used in the downstairs rooms of the center for children that are disabled, or it can be used by law enforcement in the field if they need to interview children.
According to Kassie Frazier, executive director of BCCAC, the Boone REMC grants are necessary for the center to carry out projects such as this that allow the center to keep its technology updated and relevant.
Last year, the BCCAC served 199 children in Boone Co., and grants like the one from Boone REMC help them keep operating.
The other grant awarded will help the Sheridan YAP transport students to the Noblesville Boys and Girls Club this summer.
