At the monthly school board meeting, which was held on January 27, the board discussed the Smart Change Program, a program that goes hand in hand with the Satilla REMC Foundation, an organization founded and sponsored by the Satilla REMC.
The foundation was founded in 2000, and allows members to round-up their electric bills to the next even dollar value, and the “change” goes to the education-oriented Satilla REMC Foundation. Since it began, the foundation has awarded over $2 million for educational purposes to different schools and programs. For example, money they have given has gone towards scholarships, Washington Youth Tour, endowments at South Georgia College in Douglas and Waycross, capital funding contributions to technical colleges in our service area, as well as media grants.
The foundation also awards The SMART Grant (Supplemental Media and Resource Technology Grant), which began in 2009. The Satilla REMC Foundation has awarded over $300,000 to media centers in the eight-county service areas, and today the grants total $12,000. Each of the elementary schools in Coffee County received a grant of $1,500 for their media centers.