Pictured (from left) are Richard Beck, EnergyUnited Foundation Board member; Maureen Moore, communications manager for EnergyUnited; Mandi Howell, director of operations for Matthew 25 Ministries; Ann Cline, treasurer for Matthew 25 Ministries; and Debra Citta, administrator of the EnergyUnited Foundation.

Special to Iredell Free News

The EnergyUnited Foundation recently awarded a grant in the amount of $8,000 to Matthew 25 Ministries to provide funding for the organization’s utility bill assistance program.

Matthew 25 Ministries expects to provide food, clothing and other essential services, including utility bill assistance, to more than 5,000 local residents in 2022. The donation from the EnergyUnited Foundation will provide funding for EnergyUnited members who meet the organization’s criteria to receive assistance with their energy bills.

“I am thankful for the generosity of the EnergyUnited Foundation,” said Mandi Howell, director of operations for Matthew 25 Ministries. “This donation provides essential assistance to help combat the impacts of inflation and ongoing economic uncertainty.”

“The EnergyUnited Foundation exists to help the cooperative meet the needs that are present within each community in its service area,” said Debra Citta, administrator of the EnergyUnited Foundation. “We care about this community because our cooperative was created by the people who live in the communities that we serve.”

The EnergyUnited Foundation is a voluntary, member-funded non-profit organization supported by EnergyUnited’s Operation Round-Up program. Nearly 90,000 EnergyUnited members choose to participate in the program by ‘rounding up’ their electric bills each month. The maximum monthly contribution for an individual member with one account is 99 cents. Each of these small contributions are pooled together in a single fund managed by the EnergyUnited Foundation to support needy individuals, families, and non-profit organizations like Matthews 25 Ministries that complete an application explaining the reason and purpose for their requested grant.

About EnergyUnited

EnergyUnited Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is the largest electric cooperative in North Carolina serving nearly 130,000 metering points. Headquartered in Statesville, EnergyUnited provides electric service in portions of nineteen counties in west central North Carolina which include Alexander, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Stokes, Wilkes and Yadkin. To learn more about The EnergyUnited Foundation and EnergyUnited’s Operation Round-Up program, visit www.energyunited.com/givingback.