Great Times for Great Causes

Blue Ridge Fest raised an all-time record amount of $225,000 in its 21st year of “Great Times for Great Causes.” Blue Ridge Fest is an all-employee event of Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative that gives all proceeds to Upstate charities, explains Vice President of Communications Terry Ballenger. “We recently had some photo-ops with each of the 12 charities that received contributions from Blue Ridge Fest and we were delighted to leave each one of them with a sizable check. The typical amount was $17,000 for each charity. Everyone of these organizations is doing a great job in the community of reaching to people that have needs; families and individuals. We’re just delighted that we can help out. This is really what inspires our employees to volunteer their time for Blue Ridge Fest is they see the end result is doing a lot of good in the community. So, they give a part of themselves to make the Fest successful; we’re grateful for them and we’re just glad that we can help these folks out.” The 12 charities benefiting this year from Blue Ridge Fest were A Call to Action, Anderson Free Clinic, Center for Developmental Services, Collins Children’s Home, The Dream Center of Pickens County, Fair Play Camp School, Feed a Hungry Child, Hospice of the Upstate, The Lachlan McIntosh Tannery Foundation, Miracle Hill Children’s Home, North Greenville Crisis Ministry, and Samaritan Health Clinic of Pickens County. This annual fundraiser has donated nearly $2.8 million throughout its first 21 years to Upstate charities located in Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative’s four-county service area.