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Pioneer Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round Up Charitable Foundation awarded Hope Inspired Ministries (H.I.M.) a $10,000 grant Tuesday to assist in providing transportation for its students in Lowndes County.

The grant, coupled with funding from the Delta Regional Authority and the Daniel Foundation will be used toward the purchase of a van for transporting students to the program site and, when necessary, to a student’s job for the first 90 days of employment.

“Operation Round Up is proud to support organizations like H.I.M. that provide food, shelter, healthcare, education and public safety services to our communities,” said Christi Scruggs, Pioneer Electric communications director. “Our mission is to improve the lives of our neighbors in the communities we serve, and we are happy to assist organizations that share that goal.”

H.I.M. serves low-skilled and chronically unemployed men and women in Lowndes County and other areas of Alabama by preparing them with job and life skills to obtain and maintain employment.

The program offers rigorous nine-week training classes where adults complete 360 hours of classroom instruction for six weeks. The ministry also launched a program in January for high school seniors at The Calhoun School and Central High School in Hayneville.

“Pioneer electric is well involved in Lowndes County,” said H.I.M. Executive Director John Bowman. “They’ve been known to us and we’ve been known to them for some time. We have an old van which is not gas efficient. It’s been in the shop several times. We’re going to replace it with a much more efficient van and relocate the old van to another site. This grant, in combination with the others, will help pay for the van and the gas that goes along with it.”

Operation Round Up is funded by Pioneer Electric member donors who voluntarily round up their monthly electric bill to the nearest dollar. All funds, like this grant to HIM, stay in the community to benefit local organizations and individuals in need of assistance.

Since Operation Roundup’s inception, nearly $150,000 in grants have been awarded to individuals in need and organizations that help people within Pioneer’s service area.

For more information about Operation Roundup, visit pioneerelectric.com/operation-round.