Teachers are really good at stretching even small amounts of dollars to improve the quality of education for their students.

So, when sizeable donations come in from a community-minded company, it's a joyous day. And that hopefully leads to a "Brighter Future."

Missoula Electric Cooperative (MEC) today (Wednesday) announced recipients of their Bright Future Fund Program. The program was developed to give back to local schools that educate students throughout the Cooperative’s service area in Western Montana and Idaho.

This programming is a rebranding of a program that allocated funds to schools' programming, events and services, the "Improvements in Education Program." Through this expanded platform, not only would MEC continue to allocate $1,500 to area schools, this year marks the introduction of a $10,000 Merit Project grant to help close gaps in funding. Through application reviews, those additional funds were divided between two area schools whose "projects impact students most."

A big congratulations to this year's two recipients of $5,000 each, DeSmet School in  Missoula and Superior High School in Mineral County.

But the generosity did not stop there. Last month, applications were reviewed and scored by Missoula Electric Cooperative's Education Committee. As a result, all 34 area schools that applied were each awarded $1,500. When all the checks were signed and delivered, MEC donations totaled $62,500 to area schools.

In a press release, MEC's General Manager, Mark Hayden, said, “Serving the needs of local schools and students is extremely important. We are grateful to have the opportunity to give back to the next generation of Cooperative members in an impactful way.”

Those who want to find out more about the next Bright Future Fund program, can visit this page of the Missoula Electric Cooperative website.

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