The Mille Lacs Community Trust Board meets quarterly to distribute funds raised through Operation Round Up. This December, the board awarded $24,200 in grants to local non-profit organizations including: ANGELS, Cuyuna Range Youth Center, Great River Strings Ensemble, Home & Away Ministries DBA Ruby’s Pantry, Kinship Partners Inc., Mille Lacs Indian Museum, Mille Lacs Trails, Mounted Eagles Inc, Nexus – Mille Lacs Family Healing, Riverwood Auxiliary, Ross Lake First Responders, Second Harvest North Central Food Bank, True Friends, and Wild and Free. The total amount of grants awarded since the start of Operation Round Up has reached an astounding $1,373,879!

Operation Round Up is a voluntary program at Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative where our generous members round-up their electric bill payment to the nearest dollar. All of the funds raised go into the trust fund which is donated back to the community. Board members include: Lisa Anderson, Kim Waffensmith, Darlene Stigen, Bethany Sellers, Charles Schotzko, Linda Weimer, Jack Gilbertson, and Lowell W. Larson.

To receive a Trust application, contact Deb Chute at 218-927-8221 or 1-800-450-2191. The Trust Board meets the second Wednesday in March, June, September, and December. Applications are accepted at any time. Those submitted a week before the quarterly meetings will go to the board. Anything submitted after will be seen at the next board meeting.

MLEC is a not-for-profit, electric distribution cooperative owned by the members we serve.  We provide service to over 13,000 members in parts of Aitkin, Crow Wing, and Mille Lacs counties. Our headquarters is located at 36559 US Highway 169, one mile east of Aitkin, MN.