Nearly 22 years to the day of its creation, Operation Round Up granted its one millionth dollar to the community.
And it’s all thanks to you, our members. This is your milestone to celebrate.
You are the ones who contribute each month, but what you may not know is that it was one of your fellow members that got the ball rolling on instituting the program.
The Noble REMC Board of Directors learned about Operation Round Up when Palmetto Electric Cooperative from South Carolina, who created the program in 1989, spoke about it at a national conference. While we didn’t implement it then, we received a letter a few years later, in 2000, from Albion residents Jason and Kimberly Maneke. The Manekes learned about Operation Round Up while living in a different co-op’s territory and thought it would be a great benefit for our area.
Then CEO Monte Egolf and Manager of Corporate Relations John English got to work, diving deeper into what the program would entail.
“Reaching out to our members, it didn’t take much to convince them to volunteer for what would become the Operation Round Up Board of Trustees, who were tasked with deciding which projects to fund,” said English.
By November 2001, the program and its bylaws were being written and implemented, and the co-op began promotions in January 2002 for the first rounding up of bills in April 2002.
Communications and Marketing Manager Kevin Dreibelbis, who has served as an employee member of the Operation Round Up Board since it began, sees the impact these grants make when he calls the organizations to tell them their programs have been granted funding. To see those add up over two decades and the grant program reach $1 million in giving has been a dream.
“To be a part of this program since its inception and to see how its grown has been awesome,” Dreibelbis said. “Knowing how we’ve positively impacted hundreds of organizations and thousands of people is so cool.”
Operation Round Up has reached every part of our community — from providing food for food banks to outfitting fire departments with lifesaving equipment to funding programs and projects for local schools and beyond.
Giving back to our community who built us is the foundation of Noble REMC, and we’re proud of our members who believe in that mission too.
“We have such a giving membership and great participation in the program, which allows us to continue to make a positive impact on the people in our service territory,” Dreibelbis said. “Let’s go for $2 million!”
You, the 91% of our members who participate and round up, have helped to improve the quality of life for those around you, your friends, neighbors and family. Thank you for you generosity, and we can’t wait to hit and celebrate the next milestone in giving.
OPERATION ROUND UP BY THE NUMBERS
22 years of giving • 784 grants • 240 organizations • 28 total board members • $6 average annual member donation • $45,625 average annual disbursement • $1,003,759 total granted since 2002
Organizations are always grateful to our members for their generosity, and it’s been an honor to positively impact a wide variety of local people and projects, including fire and parks departments, community groups, youth programs and beyond.
OPERATION ROUND UP THROUGH THE YEARS
1989: Operation Round Up created by Palmetto Electric Cooperative in South Carolina.
January 2002: Noble REMC adopts and promotes its own Operation Round Up grant program.
April 2002: Co-op began rounding up members’ bills.
July 2002: First distribution awarded to community, totaling $8,880 to eight organizations.
April 2013: Co-op reached $500,000 in donations to the community.
January 2024: Noble REMC surpassed $1 million in giving through Operation Round Up.
