The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $111,850 in grants during their April meeting, including $50,700 to organizations serving area residents.

• $15,000 to Extra Special People in Watkinsville to provide an opportunity for special needs or seriously ill children from low-income or financially distressed families in Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Jackson and Madison counties to attend an eight-week camp where they can explore nature, discover their own abilities, master new skills and make new friends.

• $12,100 to Camp Twin Lakes, a nonprofit organization offering recreational, therapeutic and educational programs for children facing serious illness and other challenges.

• $10,500 to the Young Women’s Christian Organization in Athens to help girls from low-income families attend the Girls Club.

• $10,000 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association to help children and young adults with neuromuscular diseases from the counties served by Jackson EMC attend Camp Walk N’ Roll.

• $2,000 to Camp To Belong, a free summer camp that reunites brothers and sisters living separately in foster care or other out-of-home care.

• $1,100 to Camp Twitch and Shout to support camper sponsorships for two children from Jackson EMC’s service area living with Tourette Syndrome.

The foundation grants are made possible by the more than 184,907 participating cooperative members who have their monthly electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount through the Operation Round Up program. Their “spare change” has funded 1,188 grants to organizations and 345 grants to individuals, putting more than $12 million back into local communities since the program began in 2005.