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Contact:
Tracy Warren, NRECA Newsroom
504-670-5931
Mobile: 703-517-3411
NEW ORLEANS, LA., February 18, 2009 – The NRECA International Foundation today honored Sheldon Peterson, CEO and Governor of the National Rural Utility Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) and the National Cooperative Services Corporation (NCSC) for contributions to the International Foundation that allowed the Foundation to leverage significant resources in its mission to “electrify the world, one village at a time.”
The CFC made its first donation in 2004 and since has become the largest single donor to the International Foundation, giving a total of $425,000, the majority of which was unrestricted.
With help from CFC and NCSC, the NRECA International Foundation has been able to redouble its efforts –literally. Just in the last year, the number of volunteers going to other countries doubled.
The CFC and NCSC donations have also enabled significant progress in two countries: Haiti and Guatemala.
Targeted donations have allowed the relationship between Kandiyohi Power Cooperative in Spicer, Minn., and Empresa Eléctrica Municipal de Zacapa, Guatemala, to thrive. Previous to the project, the Guatemalan cooperative lacked basic equipment and training. Kandiyohi was able to leverage donations to provide both heavy equipment – two utility trucks – as well as basic safety equipment, including hard hats and goggles. The Minnesota co-op also provided training on how to use the equipment.
Targeted donations from CFC and NCSC have also had a tremendous impact in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti. The project, which is entirely funded through donations of money, material, and volunteer labor from the US cooperative community, is located in Pignon, a small town in the north-central region of Haiti.
The Cooperative Electrique de Pignon (COOPELEP), is the first electric cooperative in Haiti. As a result of this project, new businesses have sprung up, commercial activity is flourishing at night, children are playing basketball on the lighted court in the town square, and expensive, noisy and polluting private generators have been largely eliminated as people take advantage of cheaper electricity now available via the grid.
The NRECA International Foundation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that helps bring electricity to people living in rural areas in developing countries. By partnering with US electric co-ops and other organizations, The Foundation helps bring hope and light to villages worldwide. All donations made to the Foundation are tax-deductible.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.
Nearly 9,000 representatives from cooperative electric utilities across the nation are attending the NRECA Annual Meeting, February 15-18, at the New Orleans Convention Center, during which they will set NRECA’s legislative and organizational agenda for 2009. In addition to considering and acting upon policy resolutions, delegates receive reports from NRECA officials, hear addresses by key public figures and business experts, and attend panel sessions on major issues affecting electric cooperatives and their consumer owners.
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