Dear Members,

Where did 2022 go? I’ve been warned all my life that “as you get older, time flies by quicker.” I never took that statement seriously, until, as I got older, time in fact seemed to pick up speed every year.

I recently read a quote from American businessman and New York Times best-selling author Harvey Mackay, who I think accurately captured the value of time. “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.”

But here we are at the beginning of another new year. Now we have another opportunity to launch a fresh start with a new calendar, and the clock is ticking.

Setting New Year’s resolutions is a common practice for many of us. Losing weight shows up on a lot of lists—and seems to be a continuous struggle for some reason. I’ve concluded it’s going to take a little more than the fork-to-mouth exercise for me to shed a few pounds. But, we have a new year and renewed optimism for success this time around.

A new year is also a time to reflect back on the previous year to prioritize our focus for the clean sheet we have before us. This month, I would like to encourage you, if you are not already, to partner with us in strengthening the communities we serve by making an investment in the lives of fellow members during a time of need.

Randolph EMC’s goal is to strengthen and improve the quality of life in the communities we serve, and we do that in many ways throughout the year. Providing safe, reliable and affordable power with exceptional service is what we strive to deliver to you every day. But those are just pieces of a larger puzzle that makes up how your electric cooperative improves our local communities.

We regularly update you on some of the investments Randolph Electric makes in the communities we serve. We are proud to support innovative teachers who implement creative teaching programs to enhance the educational experience of our youth. This past year, Randolph Electric donated $14,000 for Bright Idea’s grants. The winners are included in this issue of Watts Working. Our life-to-date investment for Bright Ideas Grants is just under $300,000.

We are also assisting local fire departments with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) zero-interest loans to enable them to purchase the proper equipment they need to respond during emergencies in order to keep our communities safe. We want to commend the Ulah Volunteer Fire Department for their investment to purchase a new, much-needed engine/pumper truck. Randolph Electric provided a zero-interest loan through the USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) Program in the amount of $360,000 to assist with the purchase of the vehicle.

In 2022, Randolph employees and members demonstrated the spirit of giving, making our communities a better place to call home. Throughout the year, your employees held several fundraising events to support local programs and organizations. Gift basket auctions, raffles, and other fun and creative activities providde opportunities for employees to give of their personal funds to raise money for these agencies that are so important to our communities.

The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is an organization we have supported for several years. This organization collects new, unwrapped toys and distributes them as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in our communities. In December, employees’ monetary donations were used to purchase sports equipment for children in Randolph, Moore and Montgomery counties. It warms my heart to know that we’ve played a part in making a child’s Christmas a little brighter by providing him or her with the basketball or football that was on the list.

We are long time supporters of Relay for Life, as well. In 2022, at the employee-managed Relay for Life Golf Tournament, an outstanding $12,261 for cancer research was raised. This brought the total funds raised by the Randolph Electric team throughout the years for cancer research to over $196,000. In addition, employees collectively donated almost $20,000 this year to the United Way to support programs in our local communities.

Just as important, you, our member-owners, make a difference by supporting our People Helping People (PHP) program. Each month, members participating in PHP have their bills rounded up to the nearest dollar. Randolph EMC collects that “spare change” and deposits it into the PHP account. The primary purpose of PHP is to address charitable needs and provide financial assistance to members in Randolph, Moore, Montgomery, Chatham and Alamance counties.

As you make your new year’s resolutions, please consider “rounding up” your monthly power bills for your People Helping People program. Working together, we can make a difference.

PHP has a separate board of directors that oversees and manages the disbursement of the funds. This volunteer board does an outstanding job, and I would like to thank them for their commitment and concern for fellow members. Currently, 1,986 members donate to our PHP program—only about 6% of our 33,200 accounts. We are so grateful to you who have been a part of this program and are very proud of the work we’ve been able to do with that “spare change” over the years. But I’ll ask you to think for a moment about what PHP could do if more members participated.

The average donation is just 50 cents per month, so if each and every account signed up for PHP, we could raise over $199,000 in just one year! Even if we had just 25% member participation, we could raise almost $50,000 in one year. That money would go back into our local communities by assisting members who need a hand up. Since the PHP program began in 2001, it has helped families in our communities with more than $177,000 in assistance.

In addition, PHP receives funds from cooperative lender CoBank’s Sharing Success program. This program requires Randolph Electric to match the dollars awarded. With this extra money, PHP has been able to extend its reach with a Community Grants program, which awards up to $2,000 grants to local nonprofits. Historically, PHP has distributed $106,000 to non-profit agencies located within our service area.

Money for the Community Grants program does not come from the “spare change” collected from member accounts, so we hope to continue this effort as long as PHP continues to receive grant money from outside sources.

As you make your new year’s resolutions, please consider “rounding up” your monthly power bills for your People Helping People program. Working together, we can make a difference. It’s one of the simplest ways you can help make a difference in our local communities. Please visit our website, enroll online by signing into your account or call us at 1.800.672.8212.

From your Randolph EMC Board of Directors, your People Helping People Board of Directors and the employee team, we wish you a safe, happy and prosperous new year. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and our communities each and every day.

Cooperatively Yours,

Dale F. Lambert, Chief Executive Officer