OPD Presents ‘Round Up For Education’ Checks To Local Schools

Moapa Valley Progress

OPD Assistant General Manager Terry Romero and Public Affairs Specialist Keith Buchhalter (right) present a Round Up For Education check for $1,398.41 to MVHS Asst. Principal Pledger Solomon (left). PHOTO COURTESY OF OVERTON POWER DISTRICT.

The Overton Power District (OPD) celebrated the beginning of a new school year with a special presentation that has become an annual tradition. Last week, district staffers presented checks totaling $2,527.13 to school officials in both the Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley for use in local school programs. The funds came from the district’s Round Up for Education program.

“Of course, the district would love to take the credit for these donations, but we really can’t,” clarified OPD spokesman Keith Buchhalter. “The donations are not coming from power rates or any other OPD funds. Rather we are just presenting the checks on behalf of all of our customers who voluntarily signed up for the Round Up For Education program.”

The Round Up program was instituted by the OPD Board of Directors in 2014 in response to a request from two MVHS teachers and athletic coaches: Shane Hickman and Dallas Larsen. The coaches’ original idea was to set up a simple and painless way for members of the community to make nominal donations to the school’s athletic program.

OPD customers can voluntarily opt in to the program and agree to round their power bills up to the nearest dollar each month. Last year, this averaged out to about $5.70 per year donated from each participant to school programs. At the end of the year, OPD gathers up all that spare change and presents it directly back to the schools.

Taken one customer at a time, it is really not a lot of money – just pennies each month. But as more of the community gets involved, the dollars can really start to add up for the schools. In Moapa Valley, there are a total of 230 residents signed up to participate in the program. On Wednesday morning, a check for $1,398.41 was presented to MVHS Assistant Principal Pledger Solomon.
“I think this is the biggest year so far for us,” Solomon said. “The proceeds from this program have greatly benefitted our athletic programs. We truly appreciate the support from the community as a whole in participating in this program. And we are grateful to OPD for hosting it.”

Solomon explained that as education budgets continue to be cut, these types of programs become more vital than ever. The funds go directly to the school where a special committee of staff members decide on how it should be spent.
“It helps to pay for special equipment and other improvements that we don’t want to try and pull out of the team athletic budgets,” Solomon said.

Solomon explained that the athletic budgets for each sport are mainly funded through the fundraising efforts of the athletes. This fundraising pays most of the cost of team travel, uniforms, and other equipment to play the sport.

But Round Up For Education can be saved for larger projects that are needed at the school. A couple of projects that are being considered are a new shade structure for spectators at the MVHS Baseball and Softball fields. Also a screen system for the new gymnasium where highlights of games might be replayed for the audience to see.
“Of course, these funds will not be able to pay for all of those things,” Solomon said. “But if we save for these things, these funds can go together with contributions from other organizations and businesses to make these projects a reality.”

Round Up For Education is available to Virgin Valley residents as well. Currently there are 182 participants signed up for the program in Virgin Valley. Their monthly small-change donations over the past year were accumulated into a check for $1,128.72. The check was presented to Virgin Valley High School Principal Cliff Hughes on Tuesday, August 29.
“We are grateful that OPD continues to do this program,” Hughes said last week. “And we appreciate those in the community who have signed up to participate. In the current budget environment we are grateful for every little bit.”

OPD customers in Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley can opt in to the Round Up for Education program by making a call to their local OPD office. Customers can simply speak to an OPD customer service representative and request that they be enrolled in the program. At that point, they also can choose which school their donation should benefit.

Moapa Valley customers can enroll by calling the Overton office at 702-397-2512. Virgin Valley customers can call the Mesquite office at 702-346-5710.