Wright-Hennepin Members Donate More Than $42,500 To Local Organizations

Rockford, Minn. (July 1, 2026) — Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association (WH) members who participate in Operation Round Up (ORU) donated grants totaling more than $42,500 in June. ORU has awarded more than $5.8 million to local organizations since it began in 1994.

Approximately 90% of WH’s members participate in the ORU program, allowing their electric bills to be rounded up to the next dollar. The rounded amount is then held in a trust fund. The ORU Board evaluates funding requests from local programs on a bimonthly basis.

Watch a video demonstrating the local impact of ORU at bit.ly/WH-ORU26.

The ORU trust board donated the following on behalf of WH members:

• $10,000, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, funds to support programming and meals at Voyageur Environmental camps.
• $10,000, CROSS, funds to support Family Advocate staff members.
• $8,500, Hope Chest for Breast Cancer, funds to support cancer patients with necessary bills.
• $5,000, Open Doors for Youth, funds to support Connections program.
• $4,000, 2B Continued, funds to support Teen Mental Health First Aid section for students at the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted and Watertown-Mayer.
• $3,838.33, Buffalo Stampede Special Olympics, funds to purchase cornhole sets and shipping.
• $1,500, We Can Ride, scholarship fund for individuals and families with disabilities and special needs for horse therapy.

Applications for the next round of funding are due August 1. Learn about the activities ORU supports and find the grant application by visiting this page or emailing ORU Trust Administrator Lisa Zipp.

Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric utility that provides power to rural Wright County and western Hennepin County. The cooperative has been a corporate citizen to the area since 1937 and currently serves more than 61,000 electric accounts. It is headquartered in Rockford, Minn.

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