Recognizing the important role that communities play in the lives of Montana families, PPL Montana is continuing its partnership with organizations that address major quality-of-life issues.
Through the company’s Community Fund, PPL Montana is awarding a total of $100,000 this spring to 15 organizations that are addressing issues related to education, the environment and economic development. Another $100,000 will be donated in the fall.
“Since we started the fund last year, we’ve presented a total of $300,000 to 46 organizations that are touching the lives of thousands of people and, as a result, improving the quality of life for all of us,” said Lisa Perry, manager of community affairs for PPL Montana. “PPL Montana is proud to be able to partner with these organizations.”
The Community Fund received 152 applications this spring, compared to about 180 applications for both the spring and fall grant cycles last year.
“Once again there were some very difficult decisions to make,” Perry said. “I can’t thank the fund’s board members enough for the many hours they spend evaluating the projects, which continue to grow in quantity and quality.”
An 18-member, statewide advisory board — composed of civic and business leaders, as well as PPL Montana employees — helps determine how best to distribute the funds. This spring’s PPL Montana Community Fund grant recipients are:
• Children’s Sunshine Camp, Butte, $10,000: To upgrade the facilities at this free, live-in summer camp for children from primarily low-income families. The camp accommodates more than 200 campers each year.
• United for Disabilities of Sanders County, Thompson Falls, $10,000: To fund the Cherry Creek Boat Ramp improvement project, which includes a boat ramp, improved gravel parking, a floating dock, picnic facilities, signage and landscaping. This will be the only access point to the south side of the Thompson Falls Reservoir.
• Montana School for the Deaf and Blind Foundation, Great Falls, $10,000: To help update the library for sensory-impaired students with more current resources in large print, Braille and audio. The school, which serves children from across the state, is the only one of its kind in Montana. Its library hasn’t been updated in more than 25 years.
• Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Missoula, $10,000: To develop hands-on, science-based programs that will teach children about the unique plant and animal species that are part of western Montana’s natural environment. About 4,000 students each year are expected to participate in the programs.
• Lavina Public School, Lavina, $7,800: To help remodel the vocational training shop so students can learn about automotive and farm mechanics, metal fabrication, electrical work, natural resource management and construction.
• Tumbleweed Runaway Program, Billings, $7,500: To help this community-based agency renovate and furnish a skills room at a new center that it’s establishing in an old house. The program offers crisis intervention and life skills training to runaway, homeless and at-risk youth.
• Special K Ranch, Columbus, $7,500: To build a lamb barn for the ranch’s work with more than 200 sheep, which is a major source of income for the facility. Special K Ranch is a working ranch for developmentally disabled adults.
• Colstrip Medical Center Foundation, Colstrip, $7,000: To purchase computer software that will enhance the center’s diagnosis and treatment of occupational health injuries.
• Sun River Watershed Group, Great Falls, $7,000: To support volunteers, partners and the Montana Conservation Corps in reducing erosion on the lower Sun River, monitoring water quality at 30 locations along the river, and educating local citizens and schools on watershed issues.
• Scottish Rite Childhood Disorders Clinic, Billings, $5,850: To assist CommunicCamp with three week-long camps designed to help build the communication skills of children with moderate-to-profound speech and language impairments.
• Family Services, Billings, $5,000: To provide more than 500 children from low-income families with back-to-school backpacks filled with school supplies and gift certificates for clothing.
• Friends of the Madison Valley Library, Ennis, $5,000: To provide additional reading material, videos and computer software for the Children’s Area at the library.
• Treasure County Senior Citizens Club, Forsyth, $3,750: To establish a Rosebud County Library satellite at the Hysham Community Center. Treasure County does not have a library.
• Cheyenne Children Services, Lame Deer, $2,000: To provide back-to-school backpacks filled with school supplies for low-income children of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Last year 800 children received backpacks from Cheyenne Children Services.
• Consumer Credit Counseling of Montana, Great Falls, $1,600: To place four computers inside the Boys and Girls Club in Great Falls. During tax season, Consumer Credit will use the computers to assist low-income taxpayers with their returns. At other times, children will be able to use them for educational purposes.
The fall Community Fund grant application deadline is July 31, 2006.
Information about the Community Fund, as well as complete results from the recently released PPL Montana Quality-of-Life Survey, is available on the company’s Web site at www.pplmontana.com. PPL Montana commissioned the survey in late 2005 to find out what Montana residents thought were key issues facing the state. The company provided survey results this spring to government and private-sector leaders to encourage public-policy discussion.
PPL Montana, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), has electric generating facilities throughout the state with a combined generating capacity of about 1,200 megawatts. PPL Montana has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena, and employs 500 people. The company operates coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric power plants along Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. PPL EnergyPlus, another PPL subsidiary, operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale energy market.