East River Electric donates to local organizations

Three local organizations are benefiting from donations from a Madison business.  East River Electric Cooperative recently made five-thousand dollar donations to Prairie Village, the Madison Fire Department, and Interlakes Community Action Partnership (or ICAP).  The donations were made as part of East River’s participation in CoBank’s Sharing Success Program, which is a matching grant program. East River donated 25-hundred dollars and CoBank matched that amount.  

Prairie Village is located just west of Madison and holds numerous events throughout the year, including their large Steam Threshing Jamboree in late August.  Manager Faron Wahl said the funds will be utilized to assist operations-related projects affected by weather challenges and growth needs.

The Madison Fire Department has 28 volunteers and one full-time employee and provides fire protection for ten of the sixteen townships in Lake County.  They also provide mutual aid for structure fires for four area towns. Fire Chief Randy Minnaert said that the funds will be used for equipment for the department’s new engine and personal protective equipment.

ICAP is headquartered in Madison and is a community based non-profit organization which serves primarily low-income families and senior citizens in a fourteen county area of East Central South Dakota.  ICAP’s Deputy Director Arleen Weerheim said that the donation will be used to assist low-income families in the community.