EDUCATORS ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT GRANT APPLICATIONS BEFORE EARLY-BIRD DEADLINE

STATESVILLE, N.C. – EnergyUnited’s early-bird deadline for educators to submit their Bright Ideas grant applications is this Saturday, August 15. All K-12 educators in public, private and charter schools within EnergyUnited’s electric service territory are eligible to receive Bright Ideas funding and encouraged to apply. This year, the cooperative will also provide funding through Bright Ideas for projects that support social distancing efforts and personal safety.

“We are always proud to support our educators, but we especially want to do what we can to help now during these times of uncertainty,” said Maureen Moore, communications manager at EnergyUnited. “The goal of the Bright Ideas program is to provide financial support for local educators and help promote creativity and innovation in the classroom, but we believe classroom innovation may produce unique results this year as students and teachers prepare to return to school.”

The application, grant-writing tips and more information about the Bright Ideas education grant program can be found at www.ncbrightideas.com. Classroom teachers can apply for grants individually or as a team. EnergyUnited expects to award over $40,000 in Bright Ideas grants again this year to teachers in the 19 counties it serves.

Bright Ideas grants are available through each of North Carolina’s 26 electric cooperatives, including EnergyUnited. In 2019, North Carolina’s electric cooperatives collectively set a record by awarding more than $716,000 in Bright Ideas funding for 660 projects – the most awarded in a single year in the history of the program. Since the program began in 1994, educators statewide have received more than $12.9 million in Bright Ideas grant funding, and approximately 2.5 million North Carolina students have participated in 12,359 Bright Ideas-funded projects.