Now a Decade Old, VEC's Community Fund Keeps Cranking out the Grants

Ten years in, the generosity of VEC members who support the VEC Community Fund continues to shine.

“Concern for Community is one of the seven co-operative principles that guide all co-ops, and this successful fund is a wonderful example,” said Ed Peterson, the chair of the Community Fund Allocation Committee.

Back in 2015, the fund awarded its first grants to six non-profits: The Birds of Vermont Museum, the Boy Scouts of America, the Johnson Historical Society, the Memphremagog Watershed Association, and North Country Hospital. 

Since then the fund has made a whopping 224 awards totaling $159,328. At its most recent quarterly meeting, the VEC Community Fund – which is supported solely through donations by VEC members themselves – awarded just over $11,000 in grants of varying amounts to 14 non-profit organizations that serve VEC members. They were:

• Champlain Islands Food Shelf

• North Country Supervisory Union

• Northwoods Stewardship Center

• Starksboro Food Shelf

• YWCA VT Camp Hochelaga

• All Brains Belong VT

• Craftsbury Energy Committee / Town of Craftsbury

• First Step Recovery House, Inc.

• Heart Full Kitchen

• HOBY Vermont

• Johnson Elementary School

• RAFT (Recovery After Flooding Team)

• The Peoples Farmstand

• Vermont Associates for Training & Development, Inc.,

Another recent grant recipient was Camp Knock Knock, a retreat in North Hero for children who have experienced the death of a loved one. Here’s their kind thank you note:

On behalf of the Camp Knock Knock Committee, thank you for extending a $250 grant to our organization! This year, Camp Knock Knock supported 9 grieving families at our weekend-long programming. Your contribution helped us cover our expenses for our recreational activities, like a bubble machine and large parachute so that kids and families could participate in group activities alongside of other grieving families. As a self-sustaining program we rely on community contributions and we thank VEC for their support. With gratitude, the CKK Committee.

You can help the fund do even more over the next decade by supporting it if you don’t already. To learn more about how to give, or to apply for funding, visit the Community Fund webpage here: https://vermontelectric.coop/c....