Northern Neck Electric Cooperative’s second Bright Futures Fun(d) Run raised over $5,000, thanks to a matching donation from Oasis Digital Properties, providing children in the area with more than 4,000 books. To date, NNEC and its members have funded more than 12,000 books through Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which offers free books to children up to age 5 in the region’s participating communities. The event occurred on Friday, June 7, at the co-op’s headquarters in Warsaw, Va.
More than 100 individuals, including avid runners and families, participated in a variety of color runs offered at the event while raising more than $2,500 for the nonprofit. The options included a quarter-mile, half-mile and one-mile run, catering to participants of all fitness levels. Attendees and NNEC employee volunteers cheered on the participants and enjoyed activities, including bounce houses and a touch-a-truck exhibit.
“Thank you so much for helping get more books into the hands and homes of children,” says Nell McCauley, program director for The Dollywood Foundation.
Highlighting the event was NNEC’s dedicated linemen in bucket trucks, high above the participants, showering them with vibrant colors. Other NNEC employees enthusiastically joined in on the ground, throwing colors on runners at different stages of each race.
Inside the NNEC warehouse, children explored a variety of different work vehicles during the event’s touch-a-truck exhibit. This part of the event included NNEC’s linework equipment and the vehicles of the Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Forestry and Richmond County Volunteer Fire Department.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all participants, attendees, sponsors and volunteers who contributed to the success of this event,” says NNEC President and CEO Brad Hicks. “Our board of directors empowered us to live out our mission to improve the quality of life in our communities, and this event is a big part of achieving that mission.”
Oasis Digital Properties is developing a 9-million-square-foot data center campus in King George, Va., that will be served by NNEC.
–Report by Northern Neck Electric Cooperative. Photo courtesy VMDAEC.