20 YEARS OF IMPACT: CENTRAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Twenty years ago, a simple idea took root. What if small acts of generosity, pooled together, could create lasting change in our local communities? Two decades later, the Central Community Foundation has turned that idea into reality for nonprofits and neighbors across Central Rural Electric Cooperative’s service area. Operation Round Up was not a new concept to the cooperative industry but it was to many Central members. The idea of members voluntarily rounding up their monthly bills to the nearest dollar to provide grants for local organizations to help our local communities. “We started putting the idea of the foundation together in 2004 or 2005,” said Randy Jarvis, who retired from Central as the vice president of corporate development in 2016. “We had a lot of organizations and groups looking for donations and thought the foundation might be a way to address donation equity across the communities we serve.” Operation Round Up was founded
in 1989 by a co-op in South Carolina and adopted by Central in 2006. Jarvis spearheaded the program after learning more from other cooperatives that had successfully implemented the program.
that met the cooperative’s core values,” Jarvis said. Today, more than $1.4 million has been donated over the past two decades and has helped hundreds of nonprofits, groups, organizations and local neighbors.
“Before the foundation, we “It’s members giving weren’t able to make within specific fields of as large of an impact interest,” Jarvis said. with donations,” “Once they saw what said Larry Mattox, they were supporting, Central’s director of fire departments and Randy Jarvis presents communications. “The a Central Community schools, they bought in amount of donations to the program.” Foundation grant to the organizations could Cushing Fire Department. receive through the Every dollar granted, foundation became significantly every neighbor helped and every higher and made a much larger life impacted is made possible by impact on those who were helped.” Central members. For 20 years, members have helped turn small The monthly donations, which total contributions into meaningful no more than $11.88 yearly, are change. pooled together and allocated to a variety of nonprofits, organizations “It’s heartwarming that somebody and individuals on a bimonthly basis. had a vision that their co-op could help their community in a significant “It became a good way to support way,” Jarvis said. “It’s what the communities equitably through the co-op is about, neighbors helping foundation, a way to support causes neighbors.”