SD Gunner Fund is honored to announce that it has been awarded a $25,000 grant investment from the Coastal Electric Cooperative Foundation.  The Coastal Electric Cooperative investment will change lives by funding the training and placement of much needed service animals for local veterans, first responders, and children with disabilities.  

SD Gunner Fund is a Richmond Hill based nonprofit founded in 2014 with a mission to provide a world-class service dog training and advocacy program to support military families, first responders, and children with disabilities.  Since its founding, the organization has provided fully trained service dogs for 80 veterans, first responders, and exceptional children.  SD Gunner Fund’s service dog training program provides the full range of services needed to ensure a dog is prepared to meet the specific needs of individuals with mobility, hearing, psychiatric, and neurological disabilities.

“We are honored to have been awarded this life changing grant from Coastal Electric Cooperative Foundation and excited about the impact we can now make in the lives of more veterans, first responders, and children with disabilities in our community,” said Britnee Kinard, Executive Director of SD Gunner Fund. “This investment is a true reflection of the generosity and care of local people, and we could not be more grateful.”

Since its creation in 1993, the Coastal Electric Cooperative Foundation has awarded grants in excess of $1.8 million to numerous charities, organizations, and individuals.  Grants like this one to SD Gunner Fund are made possible by Coastal Electric Cooperative members who allow their electric bills to be rounded up to the next whole dollar through Operation Round Up. Those nickels and dimes are pooled together and invested back into our local communities through the Foundation.

“It's amazing to see what each person's small change can do when it's all put together!” said Bethany Akridge, Communications Coordinator for Coastal Electric Cooperative.

For more information about SD Gunner Fund, visit www.sdgunner.org. For more on Coastal Electric Cooperative, visit www.coastalelectriccooperative.org.