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Blue Ridge Energy Foundation Grants Awarded for Continuing Helene Recovery
(front row l-r): Becky Pearson, Ashe Memorial Hospital; Twila Miller, Ashe Really Cares; Chris Hill, Museum of Ashe County History; Stacey Gibson and Angela Loos, Quiet Givers; Kim Barnes and Robin Nethery, Partnership of Ashe; Aimee Fink and Sharon Arscott Mills, Lost Province Center for the Cultural Arts; Tasha Rountree, Blue Ridge Energy Director of Community Relations and Economic Development
(back row l-r): Nathan McLeese, Ashe Really Cares; Andrew Cole, Museum of Ashe County History; April Blevins, Blue Ridge Energy Ashe District Manager; David Boone, Blue Ridge Energy Board Member; Cindy Price, Blue Ridge Energy Board Member; Douglas Spell, Blue Ridge Energy Board Member
(back row l-r): Nathan McLeese, Ashe Really Cares; Andrew Cole, Museum of Ashe County History; April Blevins, Blue Ridge Energy Ashe District Manager; David Boone, Blue Ridge Energy Board Member; Cindy Price, Blue Ridge Energy Board Member; Douglas Spell, Blue Ridge Energy Board Member
Grants awarded by the Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation this year focus on helping local communities continue efforts of recovery from the impact of Hurricane Helene—the most devastating natural disaster in western North Carolina’s history. Additional funding will support projects in the areas of health, wellness, education, youth, and economic and community development.
In Ashe County, citizens will benefit from six grants worth $27,258 recently for the 2025 grant cycle.
The grants are examples of why Blue Ridge Energy established the Members Foundation in 2007 to support the work of community organizations providing services vital to the quality of life for the cooperative’s members. Since then, the Foundation has awarded over $2.02 million in community grants.
Local Ashe County agencies receiving grant awards include:
- Ashe Memorial Hospital - a $4,758 grant will be used to replace aging chairs used for infusion treatments in the Jo Anne Poe Cancer Center.
- Ashe Really Cares - a $10,000 grant to support continued growth and need for additional temperature-controlled food storage in a dry warehouse that is currently uninsulated.
- Lost Province Center for the Cultural Arts - a $5,000 grant to build a community kitchen on Lost Province Arts Campus.
- Museum of Ashe County History- a $2,000 grant to fund the Proper Storage and Artifact Preservation Project, which will ensure that the artifacts and documents that have been placed in the museum’s care are properly stored and protected from potential damage from storms and other adverse weather events.
- Partnership of Ashe - a $2,500 grant to provide books and play resources to children and their families to support social and emotional well-being.
- Quiet Givers - a $3,000 grant will be used to operate the comprehensive and flexible program that meets the unique individual needs of households in Ashe, Avery, and Watauga Counties.
A grand total of $175,000 was awarded to 33 organizations across the Blue Ridge Energy service area for the 2025 grant cycle. In 2025, the Foundation also provided crisis energy bill assistance to over 700 Blue Ridge Energy members who needed emergency help paying their electric and fuel bills.
Funding for Foundation grants and crisis assistance comes from members participating in Blue Ridge Energy’s Operation Round Up® and Operation Round Up Plus® programs and an annual contribution from profits of the cooperative’s subsidiaries, Blue Ridge Energy, LLC, and RidgeLink, LLC. Over 23,500 members are either rounding up their monthly electric bill with Operation Round Up or adding a dollar or more with Operation Round Up Plus. Members also contribute by donating some or all of their annual capital credits.
Anyone with questions about the Foundation or agencies interested in applying for grants may contact Tasha Rountree, director of community relations and economic development, at 828-759-8994 or trountree@blueridgeenergy.com.
Blue Ridge Energy is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 80,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties and parts of Wilkes, Avery, and Alexander counties. It also includes a propane heating fuels subsidiary and a business-to-business telecommunications subsidiary. Learn more at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com.
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