Chapel Hill, N.C. —A check for $80,433 was presented by the Chief Executive Officers of North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives to help fund the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center’s “Learn Not to Burn” program. The Learn Not to Burn program teaches fire safety and prevention to preschool and elementary students across the state.
The electric cooperatives, their associates and vendors are the major funding source for the educational program. A golf tournament organized by the general managers of North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives accounts for 100 percent of the burn center’s budget for the Learn Not to Burn Program.
Dale Lambert, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Randolph EMC, based in Asheboro, and tournament fundraising chair, said, “The North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center is near and dear to the hearts of the electric cooperatives. Burn prevention education is so crucial, especially for our children. The electric cooperatives, our associates and vendors are proud to support the Burn Center by providing funding to make this life saving program so successful.”
The Learn Not to Burn program allows teachers to attend workshops and receive books and resource materials to help their students learn about the importance of fire safety. This educational program touches the lives of more than 85,000 students each school year. It is taught in the public and private school systems in all 100 North Carolina counties.
The NC Jaycee Burn Center, which has been operating since 1980, provides world class burn treatment, helps rehabilitate patients who have had severe and life-threatening burns and provides fire and burn prevention education.
North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives serve 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.