The next day, Kankakee Valley REMC's marketing manager, Steve VanderWerf, drove the co-op's service territory torn by the storm, but he wasn't looking for downed power lines. He was looking to make another kind of connection.

He wanted to know if any of the co-op's consumers were displaced or injured by the storm. As the coordinator of Kankakee Valley's special Operation Round Up Fund, he had some discretionary emergency dollars set aside for just such disasters to help consumers. When he found the Sommers home had been damaged and heard about Cliff's illness, he sought out and gained approval for a $1,000 emergency grant from the fund's board of trustees.

Later that day, he dropped by the hospital to make his surprise presentation. As he was about to enter the room, he overheard Clara saying, "It seems like everything is happening at once …. It seems like everything is going wrong."

At that point, he introduced himself and told them about Operation Round Up. He then presented Clara the check.
She began to cry and told Cliff, "Not everything is going wrong."

Through tears of gratitude, they thanked the members of Kankakee Valley REMC for the support through Operation Round Up. As Kankakee Valley REMC consumers, the Sommerses were participating in the voluntary program that allowed the co-op to round up their electric bill to the next dollar. That average monthly donation of less than 50 cents then went into the special separate fund for community projects and special causes.

"We've always had what we needed and hoped to help other people who are less fortunate," Clara said of their involvement in the program. She never imagined she and Cliff would be recipients. "We were so surprised. We've had so much bad luck. It was a bright spot that day."
"This is part of the cooperative way of conducting business …," said VanderWerf, "… helping each other so we can shine as one."

Tuning in the community

Operation Round Up has become perhaps the most visible and ongoing way nine Indiana electric cooperatives are showing their commitment to the communities they serve. But it's not the only way co-ops around the state get involved in their communities.

All around Indiana, co-ops are supporting 4-H, FFA and other youth programs. They're involved in United Way and community organizations. They loan equipment, and employees volunteer time to keep Little League diamonds shining brightly and the homes of less fortunate folks sealed tightly against the winter chill. Community commitment is one of the seven guiding cooperative principles. It's also one of the four core values of Touchstone Energy, the nationwide alliance of electric co-ops.

"Our philosophy is to be really in tune with the community because if the community is strong and vibrant, then we're strong and vibrant as an REMC," said Dan Arnholt, general manager and CEO at Bartholomew County REMC.

Co-ops, because they are consumer-owned and consumer-controlled, are inherently more in touch with community needs. In some places, co-ops are among the few remaining institutions with a vested interest in the rural area. But because they are non-profit, co-ops don't have deep-pocket endowments to throw around a lot of cash. Instead, they try to provide servant leadership and lots of elbow grease for community organizations and projects. For Operation Round Up, they turn to the generosity of their consumers.

Rounding up

Operation Round Up is unique. It's grassroots at its roots. Though co-ops initiate and facilitate the program, its funding comes strictly from the voluntary support of co-op consumers.

It's a simple idea — consumers let the co-op round up their electric bill to the next whole dollar. That spare change, when teamed up with the spare change of all the participating consumers, can produce a lot of change for good in the community.

"It's the co-op philosophy," said Kevin Sump, CEO at South Central Indiana REMC. "Everybody works together to pool their resources and use those resources to do something positive for the people involved."

South Central was the first Indiana co-op to initiate the program in January 1995. Two other co-ops followed suit the same year (and were featured in an October 1995 Electric Consumer cover story). Since then, six other electric cooperatives around the state put Operation Round Up into reality (please see sidebar at right). Two more co-ops — LaGrange County REMC and Northeastern REMC — have just begun rounding up, while Noble REMC will launch Round Up next month. Another co-op, White County REMC, plans to initiate Operation Round Up later this year. Others are considering it.

"We have always tried to be a part of the communities in which we serve," said Monte Egolf, president and CEO at Noble REMC. "Operation Round Up has the potential of elevating our community involvement and support to a much higher level."

Almost 96,000 consumers are participating in Round Up among the nine co-ops. Last year, those nine funds disbursed over $450,000. Since 1995, Operation Round Up in Indiana has awarded $1.88 million. Funds have gone to community projects, volunteer fire departments, shelters for battered women and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Funds have purchased police dogs, helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity and aided a who's who of worthy community organizations and non-profit groups. Funds have built wheelchair ramps, helped folks like the Sommerses get back on their feet and supported underinsured families facing mounting medical bills from catastrophic illnesses.

"I can't think of a program that demonstrates our commitment and concern for community better than Operation Round Up," added Sump. "The benefits this program has brought to the communities and individuals in our service area have been tremendous."

In its seven years, South Central Indiana REMC's Round Up program — 23,414 consumers strong — has disbursed almost $850,000. The Martinsville-based REMC, the state's largest, serves about 31,000 meters in Morgan, Monroe, Owen, Brown, Johnson, Putnam and Clay counties. About 75 percent of the co-op's consumers participate.

Operation Round Up originated in 1989 with an electric co-op in South Carolina. Palmetto Electric Cooperative established the program to fill in the funding gaps for many worthy causes that were falling through the cracks of public and private support. Palmetto's fund is now considered on the same level as the United Way in the area.

Palmetto copyrighted Operation Round Up and, following another co-op principle of cooperation among cooperatives, has allowed other electric co-ops nationwide to use the program's name. Palmetto's only stipulation is that the money be used for charity and not for political purposes.

The average annual individual contribution to Operation Round Up is only about $6 for consumers who choose to participate. And while this varies, the annual contribution can never be more than $11.88 — since 99 cents a month is the most any bill can be rounded.

Here's how it works. If a consumer's electric bill was $88.50 for the month of February, the Round Up participant would let the co-op charge $89. That extra 50 cents goes into a separate trust fund. Add together all the 50 cents, 25 cents, 75 cents, or whatever, from all the participating consumers each month, and before long, that fund has enough money to make a real difference in lives.

Though each co-op establishes its own method of administering the special funds, usually the co-op selects a board of trustees to review requests for support and determine awards. The board is usually a broad mix of civic- and service-minded leaders separate from the co-op.

"To think they help fund programs that help children is wonderful," said Katie Stoffel, case manager with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Decatur County. The organization received a grant from Decatur County REMC's Operation Round Up trust fund last year. "It's nice that the REMC realizes the importance of helping these programs."

She added that it's even more "near and dear" that the funds actually came from the co-op's consumers.

"Operation Round Up is a success at Decatur County REMC," said Don Schilling, the co-op's manager, "because our members are helping their neighbors and friends improve their quality of life — whether on an individual basis or through community organizations like Hospice of Decatur County or Big Brothers Big Sisters."

The key to the program's success is member participation. The most successful programs average around 75 percent consumer participation and range from 55 to 93 percent.

To get those kinds of numbers, though, successful Round Up programs had to be initiated with a "negative checkoff" or "voluntary opt-out" plan. This required consumers who did not want to participate to either send back a pre-printed card or call the co-op to withdraw from the program. If the co-op didn't hear from a consumer within a publicized grace period, that consumer's bill was rounded up. Though originally approved by the state utility regulatory commission, the opt-out method has been the most controversial part of the program.

Co-ops using the opt-out plan, which includes most all of the participating Indiana co-ops, said they received some consumer complaints. But, when compared to the overall membership, those numbers paled. Some supportive consumers even sent in additional donations to their tax-deductible Round Up fund for what they called "seed" money.

Dan Arnholt at Bartholomew County REMC said once grants were made, a few consumers who originally opted out of Round Up saw the benefits and opted back in. "Once they saw the value of it, they changed their mind and started participating," he said. "If they know where the money is going, they feel good about it."

Powering ‘Human Connections'

While Operation Round Up fills a niche for funding in the communities where it's been running, some communities already have sufficient funding programs in place. Nowhere is that more true than in the counties along the Ohio River where riverboat casino taxes are abundantly filling the coffers of governmental agencies and special community foundations. In those areas, co-ops note, Operation Round Up would be redundant.

But, that doesn't mean those co-ops are not taking active roles in other community projects.

Employees at Harrison REMC, for instance, participate in an annual "Repair Affair" to make repairs and improvements on homes of elderly and low-income county residents. The co-op is also a corporate sponsor of the annual autumn event.

Likewise, next door, Clark County REMC also supports a number of community programs. That involvement, coincidentally, makes for one of the busiest days of the year for some employees. Each year on a Saturday in April, many of the REMC's employees are up and working before 7 a.m. at the March of Dimes Walk. Twelve hours later, the same employees are still on their feet greeting consumers at the co-op's annual meeting held traditionally the same day as the walk.

Farther upriver, Southeastern Indiana REMC and its employees are heavily involved in 4-H auctions and other activities in the seven counties the co-op serves. Meanwhile, the cooperative power supplier for the co-ops in the southern half of Indiana, Hoosier Energy REC, continues its annual sponsorship of the Indiana Festival Guide and promotes tourism and economic development. The Turtle Creek Environmental Education Center offers resources for educators at Hoosier Energy's Merom Generating Station.

Most co-ops, whether they're involved in Operation Round Up, civic organizations or educational programs, show similar community commitment. "As the tagline says, ‘We are the Power of Human Connections,'" noted Marianne Wiggers, speaking for Southeastern Indiana REMC — and most electric co-ops in general.

"In these days of e-mails, answering machines, voice messages … when we personally connect with a young person at a 4-H auction and see their smile, or citizens watch our linemen put up Christmas lights, or we walk as a group to raise money for cancer — this human connection is priceless. The co-op spirit is alive and well and growing stronger," she added. "We don't just say we have community commitment, we DO it!"