NLI, Horizon members donate to food banks

The holiday season brings out the joy of giving. But what happens after the gifts have been opened, the special goodies are all gone, and the new year begins?

 Alice Wallace, the Bonner Community  Food Center manager knows all too well the challenge of restocking the Food Bank shelves after the festive season.

"Now that the holidays are over, our families will really start feeling the pinch of everyday — keeping the utility bills, the rent paid, gas in the car and food on the table. This is when the Bonner Community Food Bank really is hit hard. For the year of 2007, 425,000 pounds of food went out the doors to deserving clients at the Food Bank. The Food Bank has to reiterate the fact that they are only a stopgap for when our clients have an emergency in the household.

This year is starting out to have a major impact on the store house of food. Many donors have helped as much as they can, but the need is still there," Wallace said.

 "All of the local food banks are thrilled with the partnership that has been formed between Northern Lights and Horizon Credit Union. We are very grateful for the members of Northern Lights and Horizon for the matching funds of $1200 each to be donated to our local area food banks to start off the new year."

About 18 years ago Northern Lights started a partnership with Horizon Credit Union, a local, financial cooperative. Horizon is a member owned organization with an extensive branch network spread throughout Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington.

 Northern Lights is a member-owned electrical cooperative, providing electricity to rural areas.  Northern Lights has a long and rich history serving northern Idaho and western Montana, since 1935.

"When our relationship with Northern Lights first started we were looking for innovative and cost-effective ways to finance line extensions for their members and our members' homes," said Horizon's Vice President of Relationship Management, Steve Wilder.

 Since then the relationship has grown and this year Horizon has agreed to match all funds recently raised from Northern Lights' Operation Round Up program. The Operation Round Up program is just what its name implies. Northern Lights members can choose to have their monthly electric bill rounded up to the nearest dollar. 75 percent of the money collected from this program have been allotted for local area food banks and 25 percent to the Helping Hands fund (a member assistance program to help pay  qualifying members' electric bills during a financial hardship).

 In addition to the $1,200 that Northern Lights members raised through Operation Round Up, Horizon will match an additional $1,200 for a total of $2,400. The money raised from both Northern Lights and Horizon is coming directly from members and will be disbursed among 12 food banks throughout Northern Lights service territories.

 Horizon's donation is coming from their Skip Payment program. The Skip Payment program allows Horizon members to skip one or more of their loan payments during the month of November or December in exchange for a small donation fee. Skipped payment donations are then given to the Children's Miracle Network and other charitable causes, such as Operation Round Up.

 "Like Northern Lights, Horizon Credit Union is a member owned cooperative, so partnering with them on Operation Round Up and other ventures is a natural fit and a great way for us to strengthen our relationship," said Wilder.

 Since 2005, Northern Lights Operation Round Up program raised $5000 that was donated to the Habitat for Humanity programs in both Bonner and Boundary Counties. Approximately 960 Northern Lights members are now participating in this program.

 Operation Round Up is a nationwide program that was developed for electrical cooperatives over 15 years ago. To date, $41 million has been raised from nearly 200 cooperatives that participate in Operation Round Up.

 Participation in Operation Round Up is strictly voluntary. Members may sign up for Operation Round Up by completing a bill insert that will be included with their energy bill, or on NLI's website (www.norlight.org), or by calling our office at 208-263-5141 or 1-800-326-9594.

 Whether your contribution is small change or dollars, it all adds up to mean a big difference to our community.

 Northern Lights and Horizon Credit Union encourage the community to keep in mind the needs of the many local food banks that need their shelves filled throughout the year.

 For more information on the needs of the local food banks contact Alice Wallace, program manager of Bonner Community Food Center at 263-3663.