Beyond electrons
Electric cooperatives improve quality of life
By Tracie Bettenhausen
What sets a cooperative apart from the rest of the
business world? One important value is this: to improve
the quality of life of its members and communities.
This summer, four Basin Electric Class C cooperatives —
all celebrating 75 years in business this year — shared how
their co-op is improving quality of life in their communities.
Agralite Electric Cooperative
Benson, MN
Summer meals for kids
At first, people didn’t believe it. “There are no hungry
people in Benson,” they said.
But when Pastor William Warnock of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ did his research, he found
statistics that made believers out of the doubtful.
Warnock and the Pilgrim congregation wondered
what the kids who qualify for free lunch at school do
during the summer. Upon further research, he found that
84 percent on the south side of Benson and 48 percent on
the north side of Benson would qualify for free lunches
during the summer.
Motivated to make sure the kids had enough food,
Warnock applied for a U.S. Department of Agriculture
grant to help pay for the food, and this summer, the church
served nearly 1,700 meals to children ages one through 18.
It was the Operation Round Up money the church
received from Agralite Electric Cooperative that made all
the difference. “They gave more than we expected,” he says.
Warnock presents a report to the co-op’s Operation
Round Up board to show them how the $1,000 they give
each year is used. “Because of their donation, we could
serve the kids ice cream cones, give them little trinkets
like blowing bubbles, and also use paper plates and plastic
In honor of their 75th anniversary
this summer, Agralite Electric
handed out $750,000 in capital
credits at their annual meeting.
silverware. That last one is huge because it’s all volunteers
who run these lunches,” Warnock says. He says it might
seem small, but he wants the kids to know they’re loved.
Warnock says the co-op’s support is just what they need
to keep the program running. “I would like to print out one
of those giant checks and write on it, ‘Thanks a million!’
and give it to them (Agralite),” he says.
West River Electric Association
Wall, SD
Youth leadership opportunities
Can you pin-point
a n event t hat
sparked your imagination and led
you to where you
are today?
For R idge
Sandal, a graduate of Wall High
Ridge Sandal (left) became a legislative
page after going on the Youth Tour.
School, that expePictured here with West River Electric
r ience was t he
General Manager Dick Johnson.
2013 South Dakota
Rural Electric Youth Tour where he learned about electric
cooperative history. The tour is sponsored by West River
Electric Association.
Operation Round Up is a program used by many electric cooperatives. Participating
co-op customers can choose to “round up” their electric bills to the nearest dollar
amount. Those extra cents go into a fund and are donated to qualified applicants.
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Basin Today
“I’d never been to Washington, D.C., before,” he says.
“I just learned there is limitless potential when people
get together to create something. You can do big things.”
Sandal liked how democracy in action can be used in
business. “Everybody has input, and it makes you part
owner. If you have ownership in something, there is a
sense of responsibility. I like that,” he says.
When he got home, he signed up to be a legislative page
in the South Dakota House of Representatives. He worked
for two weeks in February this year for Rep. Elizabeth May
(R-District 27).
This fall, Sandal is going to South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD, to major in agriculture economics
and minor in marketing and accounting.
Verendrye Electric Cooperative
Velva, ND
Zero-interest loans for services
For the Velva, ND, fire departments, both city and rural, a
harsh reality comes with the oil boom of western North Dakota.
The trucks on the road make a difference in how they
must respond. “The accidents are getting more violent,” says
Mike Heisler, fire chief. “Our trucks don’t have the appropriate
space to carry the equipment we need.”
Velva Rural’s newest truck was a 1984 model, and the
city’s newest was a 1975. Heisler says the departments were
“beyond what we should be running.”
While the departments were weighing their options on
how to proceed, they learned they could work with Verendrye
Electric Cooperative to get a zero-or-low-interest loan from
Lyon-Lincoln Electric Cooperative
the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s REDLG (Rural Economic
Tyler, MN
Development Loan And Grant) program.
Lead donation on new cancer center
After helping Randy Hauck, Verendrye’s assistant
The American Cancer Society shows that in Minnesota,
manager and member services manager, fill out the paperthe southwest region of the state is top of the list for breast
work, the rural department received $160,000 in a zero-interest
cancer mortality, and among
loan, which pays for about
the highest mortality rates
two-thirds of the truck.
Lyon-Lincoln Electric pledged $25,000
for prostate and colon/rectal
“We’re fortunate the
for the proposed Avera Cancer Insticancer, and tops for cervical
loa n appl ication was
tute Marshall, and East River Electric
cancer incidence rates.
accepted,” Hauck says.
Power Cooperative and Basin Electric
In that area, par tially
“The organizations need
each added $12,500.
served by Lyon-Lincoln Electo be able to show finantric Cooperative, patients have
cially they can pay the
to make a nearly four-hour round-trip drive daily to get
loan back, and they’re scored on that. It’s pretty rare to
radiation treatments.
get these, and we were happy we could help.”
That’s why Lyon-Lincoln Electric was one of the first
Verendrye Electric has only received one other loan
to support the proposed Avera Cancer Institute Marshall,
like this. The cooperative helped ABC Kids Academy
a cancer treatment facility that will serve an eight-county
receive a $360,000 zero-interest loan for a new daycare in
area. It is expected to treat more than 300 patients per year
Berthold, ND. The child care center opened in 2012 and
for radiation alone, and many more with chemotherapy.
accommodates 65 children, alleviating the urgent need for
Lyon-Lincoln Electric pledged $25,000, and East River
daycare in another town affected by the oil boom.
Electric Power Cooperative, a Basin Electric Class A
member headquartered in Madison, SD, and Basin Electric
each added $12,500.
Sandy Ludeman, Lyon-Lincoln board chair, and his wife,
Peggy, are both cancer survivors. “A cancer diagnosis for
each of us just years apart, was a scary journey of tests,
radiation, chemotherapy and surgeries. Six to seven weeks
of daily travel for treatment several hours away was physically and mentally exhausting, even with the support of
family and friends,” Ludeman says. “Thankfully, we are
survivors, due to answered prayers and modern medicine.
Mike Heisler (left), Velva Rural fire chief, and Rob Goldade, asAvera’s new cancer center would make care and treatment
sistant fire chief, say this new truck will help response in the
growing area.
much easier with support systems closer to home.”
September - October 2014
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