Thanks to the help of donations from businesses and individuals from around the county, The Potter’s Storehouse is close to doubling the amount of its original fund raising goal for putting “a turkey on every table.”
On Tuesday morning, Broad River Electric Charities — a philanthropic subsidiary of Broad River Electric Cooperative — donated $2,000 to The Potter’s Storehouse to aid efforts to make sure there is “a turkey on every table” this Thanksgiving.
At the beginning of the “turkey on every table” campaign, Pastor Don Moore estimated that 800-900 turkeys were needed to provide one to each family receiving assistance from The Potter’s Storehouse, at a cost of just over $3,000. Moore set a fund raising goal of $3,500 for the Thanksgiving food distribution.
Within three hours of beginning fund raising efforts, the storehouse received $1,100 in donations; within 24 hours more than $2,000 had been raised. Donations came from UCARE (Union County Aid and Relief Effort), Union County Council, Jonesville United Methodist Church and various anonymous benefactors.
Now — two weeks later — $6,800 has been raised, which is almost double the goal that was set. In addition to the purchase of the turkeys, funds raised can now pay for fixings, truck rental and gas for picking up food and power bills which Pastor Don says can be costly due to several walk-in freezers used to store food.
Broad River Electric Cooperative Member Services Coordinator Josh Crotzer said he had discussed various charities with the Broad River Charities board to which the group could donate. He said after reading about The Potter’s Storehouse’s efforts in the newspaper, the choice was obvious.
“I know every community has something like this,” Crotzer said. “I read about it in the newspaper, and the choice was obvious for this particular project for this year.”
The Potter’s Storehouse is one of 18 local non-profit organizations to receive donations totaling $22,000 from Broad River Electric Charities. Four of those 18 charities are based in Union County — Union County First Steps, Union County Crime Stoppers, Salvation Army of Union and The Potter’s Storehouse.
“The needs are great in our communities, especially around the holidays,” said Barbara Whitney, Vice Chairperson of the Broad River Electric Board. “These organizations are doing all that they can to help our neighbors, teach our children and protect our well-being.”
Donations to the selected charities come from Broad River Electric’s Operation Round Up program. Each month, participating members’ account balances are rounded up to the nearest dollar. That extra change goes to the benevolent fund that assists organizations and goodwill missions in and around Broad River’s service area.
Funds from Operation Round Up are distributed through Broad River Electric Charities, Inc., which is governed by a seven-member board representing the cooperative and the three major counties it serves — Cherokee, Union and Spartanburg. Broad River Electric Charities has donated a total of $100,000 to local organizations in 2011, $88,000 of which has come from Operation Round Up funds. Organizations wishing to request fund can contact the cooperative to begin the application process.
Broad River Electric Charities serves more than 20,000 members in Cherokee, Spartanburg, Union and Newberry counties in South Carolina and Cleveland, Polk and Rutherford counties in North Carolina. Broad River Electric Cooperative is a non-profit, member-owned utility which strives to be a consumer advocate.
Reach Derik Vanderford at 864-427-1234, ext. 23, or at dvanderford@heartlandpublications.com.
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