Powder River Energy Foundation and Basin Electric Power Cooperative have joined forces to make a $5,000 donation to Imagination Library of Campbell County to provide free books to local children ages five and under.
Project Coordinators Riley Dilts and Emily Haefele said approximately 400 Campbell County children signed up for the program in late 2022 and started receiving books in January. Although 100% of the cost of the books is funded by local donors, the program is part of the national Dolly Parton Imagination Library. This nonprofit organization is dedicated to inspiring reading by gifting books free of charge to children ages birth to five. Parents simply sign their children up and they receive a book in the mail every month up to their fifth birthday. The first book each child receives is one of Dolly Parton’s favorite books “The Little Engine that Could,” and the last book they receive is “Look out Kindergarten, Here I Come.”
Dilts and Haefele raised local funds from organizations and businesses to create a self-sustaining program under the umbrella of the Campbell County Library Foundation.
The Foundation and Basin Electric grants are dedicated to helping rural non-profit organizations.
“The PRECorp Foundation, and matching partners like Basin Electric, is pleased to be part of this effort to support families and young minds in northeast Wyoming. Their successful locally-focused programs continue to implement one of the Foundation’s general tenets which is to support the northeast Wyoming communities we serve. We appreciate Emily and Riley’s efforts to offer families a free, fun, and educational experience at home,” said Foundation Board President John Flocchini.
The Foundation is a self-sustaining giving organization that gets its funding from a variety of sources. Some funds are made possible in part by the PRECorp Operation RoundUp® Program, fundraisers, and large matching grants. When PRECorp consumer-members sign up for Operation RoundUp®, PRECorp rounds up their electric bill to the next dollar.
The Foundation focuses its giving to charitable organizations in Campbell, Crook, Johnson, Sheridan, and Weston counties.
About Basin Electric: Basin Electric is a consumer-owned, regional cooperative headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. It generates and transmits electricity to 131 rural electric system members in nine states. These member systems distribute electricity to about 3 million consumers. Basin Electric gives back to the communities it serves through its member cooperatives, of which PRECorp is a member.
PHOTO CAPTION:
(PRECorp photo)
The Powder River Energy Foundation presents a $5,000 grant to Imagination Library of Campbell County. Pictured in front are local coordinators Emily Haefele, left, and Riley Dilts, right, and children. In back are PRECorp Foundation staff Tim Velder and Jeff Bumgarner, and Foundation Directors Zeta Anderson, Phil Jordan, Mary Geier, Joanie Kiser, Michelle Edwards, and John Riesland.