Southern Pioneer Electric’s Helping Us Give to Society (H.U.G.S) team presented members of the Satanta Dudley Township Fire Department with $5,000 in grants on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The funds will be used to purchase two HyperSight Kits for their fire trucks, monitors for inside the trucks and two backup cameras. The HyperSight Kits include a thermal camera that will allow firefighters to see through smoke when fighting fires.
“Our H.U.G.S team is honored to provide the funds needed to purchase these kits,” said Dee Longoria, H.U.G.S. team member. “We know these cameras will be a huge asset to not only Satanta’s fire department but to any county that requests their aid.”
In addition to seeing through smoke and other obstructions, the cameras can detect fluids within oil tankers, batteries, and train cars. The cameras can also be used to detect the heat source of an individual during bad weather rescues.
The H.U.G.S team meets quarterly to review applications for grant funds and awarded a $2,500 grant to the fire department during their fall meeting. The H.U.G.S. team then nominated the project for CoBank’s Sharing Success program to receive matching funds.
“We are extremely grateful for the help and for the H.U.G.S. and Sharing Success programs,” said fire chief, Jared Sunderland.
Funds for grants through the H.U.G.S. program are generated through recycled scrape materials taken out of service due to repair or rebuild. As funds are collected, Southern Pioneer Electric is able to put those funds towards grants for organizations with community-focused projects. Once available, our H.U.G.S team then reviews any submitted applications and awards eligible projects with grants.
Southern Pioneer Electric Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pioneer Electric Cooperative, is headquartered out of Ulysses, Kansas. Southern Pioneer Electric Company has local offices in Liberal and Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Southern Pioneer Electric Company serves approximately 17,200 customers and operates in 10 counties and 34 communities. Southern Pioneer Electric Company’s service territory stretches east from Liberal to Medicine Lodge and north to Kingman and back west to Greensburg, Kansas. Southern Pioneer Electric Company is dedicated to providing customers with safe and reliable electric service. For more information about the HUGS program, please contact Vice President of Energy Services, Anita Wendt. (Phone: 620.424.5271 and E-mail: awendt@pioneerelectric.coop
CoBank is a $152 billion cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 70,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country.
CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.