Colorado’s Electric Cooperatives Come Together to Raise Money For 2020 Wildfire Relief Fund

December 28, 2020, Falcon, CO – Most folks think of the summer of 2020 as the summer of COVID-19. For Colorado residents, this summer will also be remembered as the worst wildfire season in the state’s history. In 2020, Colorado had three of its largest wildfires – Cameron Peak (208,913 acres), East Troublesome (192,812 acres), and Pine Gulch (139,007 acres). These fires didn’t just burn the Colorado landscape, it’s estimated that at least 550 structures were also lost. As communities work to rebuild, electric cooperatives are working together to raise money for the Wildfire Relief Fund.

The efforts are being led by Colorado Rural Electric Cooperatives’ (CREA) philanthropic arm, known as Colorado Electric Educational Institute (CEEI), and Tri-State Generation and Transmission, Mountain View Electric Association, Inc.’s (MVEA) power supplier. Both organizations are matching funds donated to the Wildfire Relief Fund up to $50,000 – making every dollar count as three!

MVEA’s Board of Directors has pledged to donate $5,000, which will now become $15,000, due to the matching funds.

All the contributions to the Wildfire Relief Fund will go to support electric co-op employees or directors who lost their homes or were displaced because of a wildfire, to first responders who lost their home in a fire, and to local organizations who responded to the fires.

Donations can be made to the Wildfire Relief Fund by visiting www.crea.coop/community- outreach/current-causes or by check to: Colorado Electric Educational Institute c/o Wildfire Relief Fund, 5400 Washington Street, Denver, CO 80216. All donations are tax deductible.

Colorado’s Electric Cooperatives Come Together to Raise Money for 2020 Wildfire Relief Fund (PDF)