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Coweta-Fayette EMC hosted its first-ever scholarship dinner April 15, bringing together students, families, and community leaders to celebrate local scholarship recipients supported through Operation Round Up.
Held as a milestone event for the electric membership cooperative, the evening recognized more than two dozen students receiving scholarships for college, technical school, and trade programs. The funding comes from Operation Round Up, a voluntary program where members round their monthly electric bills up to the nearest dollar, as well as some additional fundraising through the year.
Chris Stephens, president and CEO of Coweta-Fayette EMC, said the program reflects the cooperative’s mission to serve its members while strengthening the community.
“Our mission and our purpose is to serve our members and to strengthen the communities that we serve, and part of that is supportive education,” Stephens said. “These scholarships were made possible through Operation Round Up and the generosity of those members who participate at just about $6 on average per year.”
Since its launch in 1993, Operation Round Up has returned more than $6.3 million to the community through scholarships, classroom grants, and nonprofit support. Of that total, more than $1.5 million has gone directly toward scholarships.
Stephens said the recipients represent more than academic success.
“Tonight, scholarship recipients represent your hard work, responsibility and promise for the future,” he said. “These scholarships are more than financial support, their investment into the futures of these students.”
This year’s awards included 15 Melissa Segars Scholarships of $3,000 each for students from high schools across Fayette and Coweta counties, seven $1,000 scholarships for students attending West Georgia Technical College and Clayton State University, and three $3,500 lineman scholarships.
Melissa Segars Scholarship recipients included:
Andrew Dawson (Sandy Creek High School), Callie Steward (East Coweta High School), Calum Ewing (Northgate High School), Cooper Perkins (Northgate High School), Curtis Merritt (Whitewater High School), Davis Markham (Newnan High School), Emma Doyle (Fayette County High School), Gabrielle Ferguson (Sandy Creek High School), Jordin Guy (East Coweta High School), Kenza Lezoul (McIntosh High School), Lianna Realbuto (Northgate High School), Lincoln Richey (Whitewater High School), London Rivers (Whitewater High School), Mary Hollis Kidd (Newnan High School), and Tyler Cape (Starr’s Mill High School).
Tech/trade scholarship recipients included:
Alexis Diedrich, Andrew Betts, Emma Rodriguez, O’Malley Marie Anderson, Rachel Singh, Samantha Brackin (all attending West Georgia Technical College), and Vy Yen Vo Le (Clayton State University).
Lineman scholarship recipients were Dustin Warren, Evan Red, and Samuel Phelps.
Neal Shepard, chairman of the Coweta-Fayette EMC Board of Directors, said the scholarship program has been a priority since the early days of Operation Round Up.
“I was on the original Trust Board when we started in ’93, I think, and one of the first things we did was to initiate the Melissa Seager Scholarship Award,” Shepard said. “I’ve been one that’s advocated increasing the scholarships.”
Shepard noted that rising education costs have made the program even more important.
“Originally, the big scholarship was $2,500 and the others were $1,000. Well, that doesn’t even get you a set of books anymore,” he said.
He also encouraged more members to participate in Operation Round Up, emphasizing how small contributions can make a significant difference.
“It probably costs them an average of about 38 cents on a bill to round it up,” Shepard said.
“They can really, for just pennies, they can do a significant contribution to the communities—you’ve seen that tonight,” Shepard said.
Coweta-Fayette EMC members who want to participate in Operation Round Up can sign up by visiting https://utility.org/operation-round-up-signup/.
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