OPINION: You can help your Columbia County community by donating to GLOW

Our GLOW Fund provides emergency bill payment assistance to families in need. Through April, we have helped 178 families in our community, providing $17,800 in assistance toward their electric bills. In 2022 and 2023, we provided an average of more than $40,000 in assistance each year.

Unfortunately, our GLOW Fund account balance is running low.

GLOW is funded by generous contributions from our customers, employee fundraisers and surplus scrap metal sales.

Lately, we’ve seen scrap metal sales decline significantly. Our customer donations have also decreased since the pandemic.

We are looking for new ways to provide funding for GLOW. This year we are receiving a generous contribution from United Way of Columbia County. We are partnering with local businesses for fundraising events, like our successful Shop for a Cause event at Sass at Home this spring.

To ensure we can continue providing this essential service to our customers, we are also asking for your help. Please consider donating to the GLOW Fund. All money contributed to GLOW provides direct assistance to members of our community.

There are several ways you can contribute:

You can make a one-time donation by calling us at 503-397-0590 or stopping by our office.You can make a recurring donation in an amount of your choosing on your monthly bill.You can round up on your monthly bill to the nearest dollar, with the change going to GLOW.

You can see more information on these options by visiting our website at crpud.net/glow .

I personally thank you for considering offering your help to support customers in their time of need in our community. Together, we can make a difference.