BLUEBONNET AWARDS $1.2 MILLION IN BLUEBONNET COMMUNITY GRANTS

  

Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative awarded $1.2 million to 38 area nonprofit organizations last month in the first funding cycle for the new Bluebonnet Community Grants program. The nonprofits that were awarded grants include volunteer fire departments, food banks, children and women’s advocacy groups, community centers, and healthcare and disaster-relief organizations.

The grants were for capital projects and operational expenses, and ranged from $10,000 to $50,000. “We received so many outstanding grant applications for quality programs and worthy causes that it was hard to narrow it down to the 38 that we chose,” said Ben Flencher, Bluebonnet’s Board chairman. “There are many great things about serving on Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors. Choosing which grants to award was at the same time one of the most rewarding and difficult decisions.

“Fortunately, we have about $1.8 million left in the program. We encourage the organizations that either didn’t put in applications or get chosen this first cycle to submit applications before the next cycle’s Feb. 15 deadline.”

Bluebonnet received 173 applications during the first grant cycle, requesting $7.78 million. Bluebonnet’s staff organized and reviewed each application to ensure they were complete. Staff scored each application based on the Bluebonnet Community Grants’ goals. The Bluebonnet Board’s Member Experience Committee reviewed staff’s recommendation and selected finalists to be considered by Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors.

Bluebonnet’s Board voted to award the $1.2 million in grants during its October meeting.

Organizations that received grants for operational funding

 Advocacy Outreach for early childhood development

 American Red Cross for disaster-relief services

 Seton Hays Foundation for mobile children’s healthcare

 Children’s Advocacy Center for therapy services for abused children

 Bastrop County Women’s Shelter for victims of domestic and sexual violence

 Heart of Pines VFD to replace equipment lost in 2011’s Bastrop Complex fire

 Ronald McDonald House in Austin to cover cost of overnight stays for families

 Combined Community Action for support services for cancer survivors

 Hospice Brazos Valley for unfunded hospice care

Organizations that received grants for capital projects:

 American Youthworks in partnership with the Hopewell Rosenwald Community School project that will preserve the historic Hopewell School

 Bastrop County Women’s Shelter, DBA the Family Crisis Center, to renovate building serving residents in Bastrop, Colorado, Fayette and Lee counties

 Carmine VFD for a new rescue truck or tanker, serving Washington and north Fayette counties

 Delhi VFD for a new fire station

 Washington County Healthy Living Association for new senior community center

 Lee County Youth Center to replace roof on building that serves students from area school districts

 Mid-County VFD for new fire station that includes training, meeting and community rooms

 Volunteer Services Council for the Brenham State School for a paved parking lot at state school

 Down Home Ranch for energy efficiency program at facility serving Central Texans with disabilities

 City of Somerville public library to complete final phase of renovation

 Children’s Advocacy Center for renovations to existing facility for therapy services for abused children

 South Lee County VFD for critical fire-fighting equipment

 Crowe’s Nest Farm, Inc. for new farm equipment and infrastructure repairs at farm that provides educational opportunities for students

 Fedor VFD to replace skid units on two brush trucks

 Giddings Area Care Center, a food pantry

 Winchester Area VFD for wildland fire/first responder truck and equipment

 Paige VFD for a utility terrain vehicle, firefighting skid and trailer

 Gaslight Baker Theatre for new, energy-efficient heating and air conditioning system

 Washington County EMS for ready response vehicle stationed in Chappell Hill

 Combined Community Action, Inc. for a new metal roof on its central office in Giddings

 Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry & Support System for new equipment and software that will more efficiently track clients and food inventory

 Capital Area Food Bank for construction of new building to be completed summer 2016

 Central Texas Regional Blood and Tissue Center for automation equipment and software for mobile blood drives

 Brenham Main Street Historical Preservation, Inc. for audio, video and sound equipment at the Barnhill Center

 Capital Area Rural Transportation System for two transit shelters

 City of Brenham – Nancy Carol Robert’s Memorial Library for new audio, visual and technology resources for modernized library facility

 Somerville Girls Little League for improvements to field, dugouts, batting cages and bleachers

 Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, DBA Ovesta SPJST Lodge #38 for renovations to hall

 Greater San Marcos Youth Council, DBA The Children’s Shelter for facility renovations

 Scott & White Healthcare Foundation for facility upgrades, medical equipment and teaching aids

 Ladies of Bastrop Charity Thrift Store for new heating and air conditioning unit, light fixtures and improvements to parking lot

 Ellinger Chamber of Commerce for two new heating and air conditioning units

During the first grant cycle, Bluebonnet awarded funds for capital projects and operational expenses.

Going forward, only applications for capital projects will be accepted. Bluebonnet will not award community grants for operational expenses.

Applications for the next grant cycle are now being accepted. The deadline to submit an application is Feb. 15, 2016. For more information, visit the Bluebonnet Community Grants webpage at bluebonnet.coop/grants. Email questions to grants@bluebonnet.coop or contact Rachel Ellis,

Bluebonnet’s chief administrative officer, at 888-622-2583, ext. 7929.

About Bluebonnet Community Grants

 Bluebonnet will give away a total of $3 million to area nonprofits.

 Funds are from a legal settlement; the program is not funded through co-op operating revenue.

 Eligible organizations are nonprofits within Bluebonnet’s 14-county service area, including those in cities not served by Bluebonnet.

 Eligible projects are capital/infrastructure projects funded up to $100,000.

 The next grant cycle application deadline is Feb. 15, 2016.

 Grants will be awarded within four months of the application deadlines.

 Bluebonnet Community Grants are administered by Bluebonnet; grants will be awarded by majority vote of Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors.

Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of the largest electric cooperatives in Texas and has been serving its members since 1939. Bluebonnet serves more than 88,000 meters and owns and maintains 11,000 miles of power lines, located across more than 3,800 square miles within 14 Central Texas counties. Bluebonnet’s service area stretches from Travis County to Washington County, and from Milam County to Gonzales County.

For more information about Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, go to bluebonnet.coop and follow the co-op on Facebook and Twitter.