Wright-Hennepin Members Donate $102,000 to Local Organizations

Contact: Lauren Dublin
Phone: (763) 477- 3111
Email: ldublin@whe.org

Rockford, Minn. (November 4, 2025) — Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association (WH) members who participate in Operation Round Up (ORU) donated grants totaling over $102,000 in October. ORU has awarded more than $5.4 million since it began in 1994.

ORU participants allow their electric bills to be rounded up to the nearest dollar. The rounded amount is then used for donations supporting local programs. Approximately 90% of WH’s members participate in the ORU program, contributing a total of almost $20,000 each month. ORU’s board manages the donated money, which is held in a trust fund. Through a selection process and review of guidelines, the ORU trustees evaluate funding requests on a bimonthly basis.

Watch a video demonstrating the local impact of ORU at bit.ly/WH-ORU25.

At their October meeting, the ORU trust board donated the following on behalf of WH members:

• $10,000, Buffalo Rotary Club, funds to support Adopt-A-Family to purchase gas and grocery cards.
• $10,000, Love INC. Heartland, funds to support Fresh Start Program.
• $10,000, Lutheran Social Services Crisis Nursery, funds to support program personnel expenses, reimbursements for licensed nursery providers, and transportation expenses for families.
• $10,000, Senior Community Services, funds to support senior programs at Monticello and Crow River centers.
• $10,000, True Friends, funds to replace aging zero-turn lawnmower.
• $8,000, Parenting with Grace, Inc., funds to support supervised visitation program.
• $7,500, Great River Faith in Action, funds to support transportation program.
• $7,500, Wishes and More, funds to support wishes for local children diagnosed with terminal or life-threatening condition.
• $6,000, Community Toys for Tots, funds to supplement toy donations received in age groups that are short.
• $5,000, Annandale Youth First, funds to provide student-to-student mentorship programs.
• $5,000, YMCA of the North, funds to support scholarship program.
• $4,000, Relate Counseling Center, funds to support mental health needs of high-risk, low-income clients.
• $3,900 Otsego Lions/Gifts Anonymous, funds to support needy children during the holidays.
• $2,850, Annandale Care Center, funds to purchase three pianos for the care center.
• $2,500, Community Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP), funds to provide Meals on Wheels program.

Applications for the next round of funding are due December 1. Learn about the activities ORU supports and find the grant application by visiting bit.ly/WH-ORU, emailing oru@whe.org, or calling ORU Trust Administrator Lisa Zipp at (763) 497-8189.

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.