As we enter November, we reach the time of year to reflect on what we’re grateful for. As the General Manager at Columbia River PUD, I am incredibly grateful for the support this community has shown for one another through our GLOW Fund.
For those of you who may not know, GLOW – which stands for Give Light, Offer Warmth – is a program we have in place to help income-qualified CRPUD customers who are facing emergencies with their bills. Once a year, qualifying customers can receive $75 toward their bill when they need that assistance the most.
GLOW is funded through generous customer contributions and different employee fundraisers. Since the pandemic, we have seen our GLOW Fund balance drop to worrisome levels.
Our resourceful staff set out to find creative ways to restore the fund to sustainable levels this year. Thanks to your kind contributions, we’ve been able to make progress in building that fund back up.
We recently held a yard sale fundraiser and a partnership night with MOD Pizza. In addition to those two events, we received a donation from United Way of Columbia County. Combined, those efforts brought in more than $4,000 for our GLOW Fund. All of that money will go directly to families in need in our community. We will be able to help 53 families with those funds.
In addition to your generosity in donating to GLOW, we’ve seen the nurturing spirit of our customers each of the last several years through our Warming Tree. We’re bringing this holiday tradition back once again this year to collect hats, gloves, scarves, blankets, and other warming items.
Last year, we collected a record 1,352 warming items. These were all donated to Community Action Team to be donated to those in need in Columbia County. We are partnering with CAT again this year for this event.
We are accepting items now for this year’s Warming Tree, and we’ll be doing so until December 16. If you would like to contribute, please bring in your new, gently used, or handmade items before then.
Seeing our lobby fill up with boxes and boxes of items that will help keep those in need warm this winter is a wonderful feeling. It’s one of the many ways we see people in this community show they care deeply for their neighbors. And it’s one of the many things I’m grateful for being a part of here at CRPUD.
Michael J. Sykes
General Manager, Columbia River PUD
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