In July of 2008, the villagers in Pignon, Haiti, were left in the dark. A generating station transformer burned out and there were few options available for the local co-op to power up the generator to restore power to the 500 members.

The Foundation sent out an urgent request to the NRECA co-op community and within 24 hours a co-op in Alabama stepped up to the plate and donated a bank of three transformers, plus a spare.

“We had the transformers in our warehouse, just sitting there. It was very easy for our co-op to decide on donating them to the NRECA Foundation for the Haiti project,” said Jason Settle of Pioneer Electric Cooperative. “We’re glad to be able to help out, and the process of getting them ready for shipment was very easy.”

The NRECA International Foundation can accept donations of good, serviceable equipments to use in projects overseas. Donated equipment and materials facilitate the process and lowers the costs of rural electrification in countries where NRECA International has projects. Transformers and utility vehicles are especially valuable to our projects and always in demand!

Very often, electric utilities upgrade equipments due to technology advances and retire good materials that still have plenty of use. Please consider donating to the NRECA Foundation so they can be used in villages overseas. NRECA International Foundation will cover all the costs of transportation and shipment.

For a list of needed equipment, materials and vehicle donations, see the list of Current Needs.