Roundup for Safety awards $22,500 in grant funding

Flathead Electric Cooperative’s Roundup for Safety Board on July 13 awarded $22,500 to support area nonprofit community safety projects, including multiple AEDs and first aid kits.

Luke Opp, representing The Frozen Chosen, addressed his group’s request for safety equipment to support its daily cold plunges in various bodies of water around the Flathead Valley. He relayed that The Frozen Chosen was primarily formed to provide area veterans with opportunities for team-building functions, including cold plunges, hikes, cookouts, holiday fundraisers, outreach for individuals or families in financial hardship and veteran liaison

assistance. In addition to veteran outreach, the group surrounds itself with community members who support vets. The Frozen Chosen is known for its daily, three-minute cold plunges around the valley.

“It’s amazing how veterans can experience healing through cold water, but the chance to get together with other vets and talk about what they went through in combat, how they are coping with their wounds, and how they are attempting to transition back to civilian life is just as important as the plunges,” Opps said.

The board awarded The Frozen Chosen $1,700 to purchase an AED and first aid kit.

The other safety grants awarded include: Bigfork Christian Church - AED - $1,000; Code Girls United - AED and first aid kit - $1,800; Lark Skola - door and locks - $3000; Climate Smart Glacier Country - HEPA air filters - $5,000; and Kalispell Lakers Baseball Assoc. - dugout and bleachers safety improvements - $10,000.

The Roundup for Safety Board will consider August applications through July 31 and vote on them at its Aug. 10 meeting. For information, visit www.flatheadelectric.com/roundup or call Courtney Stone at 406-751-1820.