MISSOURI — From in-state college institutions to those across the country, 65 local students will be benefiting from scholarships provided through the Operation Round Up program.

This year, students from Cuivre River Electric Cooperative’s five-county service area are receiving scholarships totaling $65,000. A total of 169 applications were submitted. This was the first year the scholarship program was moved online, eliminating paper applications and streamlining the application process.

Since 2020, the Cuivre River Electric Community Trust Board has awarded $304,000 in scholarship money and more than $1.5 million has been distributed since 1997.

This year’s scholarship recipients are:

Lincoln County: Leah Crawmer, Kaitllin Tapley, Landon Niederer, Jay Hasekamp, Kacey Williams, Alex Harrison, Elaina Miller, Kyle Daniel, Emily Moellman, Gavin Reller, Kelsey Finnern, Carter Johnston, Evann Rothermich, Olivia Kinsler, Delaney Siebert, Haley Motley, Isabel Holland, Collin Twellman, Steven Schormann and Abigail Schaffer.

Pike County: Mia Nation, Victoria Mudd, Alex Miller, Anthony Grote, Madelyn Brune and Camden Fisher.

St. Charles County: Lily Boschert, Elyse Davis, Zachary Endres, Sierra Haddock, Molly Hunn, Adam Key, Thomas Kramer, Ellie Kraus, Andrew Long, Elektra Lowe, Kendall Martin, Aubrey Maschmidt, Caleb Mertz, Molly Nation, Allison Newport, Mia Palazzola, Jason Paro, Lana Peitzman, Stephen Rhoades, Lucas Rottmann, Melia Salas, Brennon Schulz, Amar Selmanovic, Lance Tow, Elizabeth Tucker, Samantha Wainscott, Leah Wheeler, Trinity Young, Megan Zablonski, Andrew Schulz and Luke Morgan.

Warren County: Chloe Atkins, Tanner Hargis, Benjamin Toebben, Kelsey Miller, Andrea Gentry, Erin Surls, Gwenyth Hammond and Katie Smith.

To be eligible for consideration, students must live in the Cuivre River Electric Cooperative service area and maintain a minimum GPA of 2.5 while attending undergraduate courses at an accredited university or technical school. Applicants are also asked to provide an official transcript and two letters of recommendation, write a narrative to highlight their academic achievements and state their career goals, and demonstrate a financial need. The scholarship may also be used for adult continuing education courses in their career fields.

Scholarships are awarded each June. The next application period opens in January 2024.

Scholarship funds are donated by Cuivre River Electric members who participate in Operation Round Up by rounding up their electric bill payments each month to the next highest dollar. The funds, administered by the seven-member volunteer Trust Board, are available to help individuals, families and organizations. For more information on Operation Round Up, call 636-695-4837 or email tschmidt@cuivre.com.

Cuivre River Electric Cooperative is the largest member-owned electric cooperative in Missouri, providing electric service to over 70,000 homes and businesses in St. Charles, Lincoln, Warren, Pike and Montgomery counties.