Flathead Electric to host dual benefit drive

Every month, there are folks in the Flathead Valley who have a hard time paying their electricity bills.

To help them out, Flathead Electric Cooperative keeps a small, donor-supplied fund that can help regular customers when they have one-time occurrences in their life that prevent them from paying a bill on time.

In order to replenish that fund, the power company is looking to build on another monumental event they are planning for the coming months: the biggest blood drive in the state of Montana.

Flathead Electric is aiming to host the state’s largest blood drive, and are soliciting financial contributions based on how many pints of blood they get at their drive. Thus, donated blood becomes a vehicle to help those in need keep the lights on in the event of a temporary crisis, in a dual-benefit event called the Pulse Project.

“We decided we didn’t want to hold any old blood draw, we wanted to hold the largest blood draw they have in the state of Montana,” said Wendy Ostrom-Price, a public relations officer for Flathead Electric Cooperative.

In order to pull off the monumental task of organizing the drive, Ostrom-Price said they realized they would need an extensive marketing effort. They also realized that after putting in all that work promoting the drive, they could use the drive as a way to raise money for the one-time assistance fund for people struggling to pay their bills.

“They need a break, they need it now,” Ostrom-Price said. “We have this small fund that is all donations that we can use to help these people with these kind of one-time crises. As a member-owned not for profit, our resources are limited.”

Those interested in participating can either sign up to donate blood, which will be collected by the American Red Cross, or donate funds.

To donate, sign up to be a project sponsor at the Flathead Electric website. Project sponsors will be invoiced in late September based on how many pints of blood are donated. Flathead Electric hopes to collect between 140 and 180 pints of blood during the two-day event. Donors can choose to contribute anywhere between $1 and $30 for each pint of blood donated.

The blood drive is scheduled for September 13 and 14 at Flathead Electric Cooperative. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, go to the American Red Cross website at www.redcrossblood.org.

More information on the Pulse Project can be found on the Flathead Electric website, at https://www.flatheadelectric.com/community/pulse-project/.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.