Community

Helping Hands

Members and employees choose tomake a difference through Helping Hands, which provides bill payment assistance to Co-op members in need. Since its inception in 1992, nearly $450,000 has been distributed to Cooperative members through area assistance agencies.

We Care

We also launched our new We Care program in 2018. Led by Co-op employees, the program encourages volunteerism, hosts member appreciation days and participates in community events, such as picking up trash around Lake Livingston. We Care was very successful in 2018 and continues to grow.

Empty Stocking

The cooperative spirit is about more than providing electricity for our members. Each year Sam Houston EC employees adopt a local family and provide Christmas gifts in partnership with the Empty Stocking program.

Scholarships

In 2018, the Cooperative distributed $82,500 in scholarships to high school seniors whose parents or legal guardians are active Sam Houston EC members. One of the Cooperative’s core principles is supporting education, and through the scholarship program over 650 local students have received assistance in pursuing higher education.

Operation Round Up

Cooperative members who elect to round up their electric bill each month are helping their communities through Operation Round Up. More than $8,500 has been distributed to local non-profit organizations that work to improve the quality of life in East Texas, such as Don’t Meth With Me, Habitat for Humanity and Reading Encourages Advanced Development, to name a few.

A $3,500 grant from Operation Round Up allowed the Tarkington CommunityLibrary to replace three unreliable computers that were more than 10 years old in 2018. The new computers are the only access to online study and research via the internet for many people served by the library.