On February 12, 2008, the Board of Directors of Operation Round-Up at CTEC approved a $1500 grant request to help Amanda Shafer, who lost her house and all contents to a fire in December, one week before Christmas. The house in Kingsland was considered a total loss. Mrs. Shafer was at work in Llano at the time, and her three children were at school when the blaze started. Volunteer fire departments from Kingsland and Buchanan Dam, as well as Llano County Sheriff’s deputies had responded to the call.

The check was presented to Amanda Shafer on February 26th, by Charlotte Buikema, Operation Round-Up Board secretary/treasurer from Llano County and Carlos Staudt, Member Services Manager at CTEC.

The grant application was submitted to help with continuing costs involved for basic necessities such as clothing and household supplies.

The slogan of Operation Round-Up is “Neighbors Helping Neighbors”. That’s what the voluntary participants in CTEC’s Operation Round-Up program have done for this central Texas family of four. By having their monthly bills “rounded up” to the next whole dollar amount every month, the nearly 1400 Co-op members who are Operation Round-Up participants, have been able to make a difference in several of their neighbor’s lives.

If you haven’t signed up for Operation Round Up yet, anyone can do so easily by picking up the phone and calling your nearest CTEC office to “round-up” one or more of your accounts. And all contributions are tax deductible. As stated above, CTEC has over 30,000 meters, and presently, only 1400 are being rounded up. The Operation Round-Up program can use your help- to help many more deserving causes in our service area. The average contribution per account is only 50 cents per month or just $6.00 for the whole year! Call today!