Volunteers from cooperatives across the nation bringing solar power to therapeutic camp for seriously ill children.
Photo credit: Luis Gomez.
View larger image

110 volunteers from electric cooperatives across the nation converged Saturday, March 5th, on Camp Boggy Creek, an outdoor camp for seriously ill children, to assist the camp in lowering its power costs. The volunteer project was coordinated by Sumter Electric Cooperative and sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA) and Touchstone Energy.

The co-op volunteers replaced the camp pool’s expensive propane heating system with a new solar system that can help keep the pool the right temperature for the special needs of the camp’s children. Volunteers also worked to make the family cabins more energy efficient by repairing ducts, caulking seams and installing weather stripping.

Camp Boggy Creek, whose founders included Paul Newman and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, is a not-for-profit organization that relies on the more than 1,800 volunteers annually from the general public and medical communities to fulfill its mission. There is no charge to attend Camp Boggy Creek, which offers children with devastating diseases such as cancer, spina bifida, kidney, sickle cell anemia, heart and kidney diseases, among others.

Each year NRECA and Touchstone Energy select a community service project to be done in conjunction with NRECA’s annual meeting This year’s cooperative community service project precedes the annual meeting being held in Orlando, March 3-11.