HELP GUATEMALAN FAMILIES IN NEED

Adults and children in the isolated, mountainous village of La Montanita de la Virgen in Guatemala are currently in the dark. The village has never had access to electricity before, but its story will soon change. The Colorado-Oklahoma Energy Trails team returns this August 2022 to Guatemala to bring power to this village. Show your support and help the local families by making a donation today.

Click on the Donate button below to give online:



To send a check: Make it payable to Colorado Electric Educational Institute with School Supplies on the memo line and mail it to CREA/Guatemala, 5400 Washington St., Denver, CO 80216.

About the Colorado Electric Educational Institute

Fundraising projects are coordinated through CREA’s tax-deductible 501(c)(3) philanthropic organization, the Colorado Electric Educational Institute. Funds have also been raised to help consumer-members affected by catastrophic fires and floods, to assist lineworkers burned on the job and to bring electricity to rural villagers in developing countries. 

Donations are accepted through Paypal or send a check made out to CEEI to:

Colorado Electric Educational Institute
5400 Washington St.
Denver, CO 80216

Concern for Community

The seventh cooperative principle is “Concern for Community.” It notes that, while focusing on consumer-member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of communities through policies and programs accepted by the consumer-members.

CREA supports its member co-ops as they put this concern for community into practice.

Youth programs have been a priority for years, with CREA assisting in both the Washington D.C. Youth Tour and the Colorado Leadership Camp, which are sponsored by the electric co-ops each year. CREA also gets involved in helping Colorado electric cooperatives support the Junior Livestock Auction at the Colorado State Fair, 4-H programs across the state, state science fair awards, renewable energy conferences and other projects.

Concern for Community also extends beyond the young people in the community. The Powering the Plains bike team rides in the Pedal the Plains bike tour each year, raising money for Energy Outreach Colorado, which helps low-income Coloradans pay their heat bills each winter.

A Fundraising Success Story:
The Lights Came on at Guatemalan Village

Colorado and Oklahoma planning team visits Guatemala.

Linemen get the lights on; electric co-ops’ consumer-members help students and families

The Colorado-Oklahoma Energy Trails team returned September 9, 2019 from Guatemala after completing another successful project with NRECA International.

At the close of the trip, the 20 linemen who spent two weeks working in the jungle and rain of Sillab, Guatemala, distributed water filters and back packs of school supplies in the village. Each family in the village received a 5-gallon water filter good for two years and each student received a back pack filled with school supplies, thanks to the generous donations of Colorado’s electric co-ops and their consumer-members.

The linemen had spent two weeks working in the jungle heat and rain, to bring electricity to this primitive village in the northeastern part of the country. They built 6.5 miles of line that included more than 40 poles and four transformers. They also wired 42 homes with electricity along with the school and the local churches.

With the village homes built on the sides of the mountainous jungle terrain, the job was a challenge. The line had to be strung across ravines and valleys, up and down throughout the hilly terrain. But the people were appreciative and many of the men and children worked alongside the team.

Colorado’s ten team members included CREA Director of Safety and Loss Control Dale Kishbaugh, Jerid Bruna and Jace Noe of Southeast Colorado Power, KJ Johnson of San Miguel Power, Austin Maier of Poudre Valley REA, Jason Matzke and Kenneth Murray of Mountain View Electric, Rod Sherman of Holy Cross Energy, Kelly Snow of United Power and Chris Stanworth of White River Electric.