Georgia Magazine - March 2021 - 15

COURTESY AMICALOLA

Amicalola EMC does crafts for a cause

J

EM
C

This patriotic wreath created by Amicalola
EMC's Member Service Department won
ﬁrst place in the annual wreath-decorating
contest that honors fallen service members.

asper-based Amicalola Electric
Membership Corp.'s (EMC's) Member Service Department won the
wreath-decorating contest sponsored by
Express Employment Professionals of
Woodstock for the sixth straight year in
December.
The prize money of $100 was combined with the $100 prize from 2019,
which the co-op then matched for a donation of $400 to the Georgia National

Cemetery in Cherokee County, where
veterans are buried.
The contest is held in conjunction
with the Wreaths Across America effort
to remember fallen members of the
U.S. military. Each year in December,
coordinated wreath-laying ceremonies
are conducted at Arlington National
Cemetery in Arlington, Va., and at more
than 2,100 locations in all states, at sea
and abroad.

Food for neighbors: Employees of North
Georgia EMC in Dalton gathered and donated
enough food to fill the bed of a pickup truck
for the annual Gratefull event on Nov. 23. The
event sponsored by Believe Greater Dalton
usually offers a community feast, but because
of the pandemic the organization donated
the food gathered to the Chattanooga Area
Food Bank for those in need.

mentorship to qualifying students beginning
in eighth grade. To learn more about the
REACH program, see " REACH for success " in the
January 2020 issue of Georgia Magazine at
bit.ly/gmag0120reach.

Here comes the sun: Walton Electric
Membership Corp. (EMC) in Monroe and
Nashville, Tenn.-based Silicon Ranch recently
announced that two more solar facilities
are operational to support Facebook's data
center in Newton County. The projects were
completed before the end of last year. The
20-megawatt Odom Solar Farm in Colquitt
County and the 25-megawatt Appling Solar
Farm in Appling County will produce solar
power for Facebook as part of Walton EMC's
agreement to provide 100 percent renewable
energy for the social media giant.
Voices of experience: Susan Lester,
senior vice president of member and
community affairs at Carrollton-based Carroll
EMC, participated in the University of West
Georgia Richards College of Business' annual
Women Empowering Women event on
Jan. 13. The program, which was held virtually,
addressed ways to conduct business amid the
" new normal " of the pandemic.

Gaining S.T.E.A.M.: The Flint Energies
Foundation in Reynolds awarded a $2,000
grant each to Morningside Elementary School
in Perry and Schley County Elementary School
in Ellaville. The grants are part of the cooperative's new Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead program,
which will support creative and innovative
projects in the areas of science, technology,
engineering, arts and mathematics at schools
in its service territory.
REACHing out: Canoochee EMC in Reidsville
donated $1,000 in Operation Round Up funds
to Long County Schools' REACH program. The
program provides academic scholarships and

COURTESY CENTRAL GEORGIA EMC

Feeding the community: The board of
directors of the Cumming-based Sawnee
Electric Membership Foundation approved a
special donation of $25,000 to five local food
banks in late January. Since March 2020, the
foundation has given about $325,000 to local
food banks, which have been struggling to
meet increased demand because of COVID-19
and related job losses. The funds came from
Operation Round Up, in which members opt
to round their monthly bills to the nearest
dollar and the difference is put into a fund for
charitable causes in the community.

COURTESY COBB EMC

SHORTTakes

Giving thanks: Last year, Cobb EMC in Marietta
thanked employees of Cobb & Douglas Public
Health for their hard work during the pandemic by
presenting them with 150 gift cards. The gift cards
were part of the cooperative's Volts of Joy program
to spread joy throughout the community with
random acts of kindness. Cobb EMC also presented
residents of nursing homes with roses on
Valentine's Day and took cookies and brownies
to local fire departments for the Fourth of July.
Drop everything:
Central Georgia EMC in
Jackson helped students at
Jackson Elementary School
test their egg-protection
contraptions during the
school's egg-drop event on
Dec. 15. The co-op's bucket
truck provided the elevation from which the eggs
were dropped.
www.georgiamagazine.org

15
http://www.bit.ly/gmag0120reach http://www.georgiamagazine.org
Georgia Magazine - March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - March 2021
