Blackburn has the chance to win $3,500 all through a program dedicated to educating others about energy consumption. That program is Elevate Energy.
What is Elevate Energy?
Elevate Energy is a non-profit organization headquartered in Chicago, Ill. The goal of this program is to educate others about where energy comes from and how to use it efficiently. Elevation Energy is more focused on talking about the basics of energy before debating how it should and shouldn’t be used. Elevate Energy is also holding a competition between three towns: Carlinville, Pana and Beardstown. Whichever town receives the most points from educating others wins a grant of $15,000.
Elevate Energy is sponsored through grants and contracts. Foundations also support their program. For Elevate Energy, their way of spreading information to others is through the community competition.
How does the competition work?
This is only the second year Elevation Energy has done this competition, but it will be held annually in the future. As stated before, the community that does the most education receives a $15,000 grant. The program keeps track of how much informing one does through a point system. Everything one does to promote efficient energy can get points. That includes posting on social media, becoming a volunteer, holding and being a part of community meetings, and many more things. Grace Traylor, a current senior at Carlinville High School and volunteer coordinator for Elevation Energy said, “I think we’re going to win, but it’s definitely close, and we’re going to have to work for it.” The competition will end on Oct. 31.
Where does the money go?
When the Carlinville city board was faced with this competition, they handed it over to Carlinville High School. If Carlinville were to win, the $15,000 grant would all go towards the high school. However, two other groups will additionally be handed checks that add up to $3,500. If Carlinville were to get 2nd or 3rd place, the high school would then receive a lower grant and two other groups would also be handed $2,000 checks. Currently, those two leading groups are TAN (Teen Advocacy Network) and the Sustainability Club at Blackburn College.
How does this affect Blackburn?
Data service Administrator Kathleen Ruiter is also the chair of the Sustainability Club. At the beginning of this challenge, she was approached by an Elevate Energy representative. Since then, she has pieced together community fairs, lunch-and-learns, community workshops and other programs to help students and faculty understand the importance of energy education.
If Blackburn wins, the money will go towards the Sustainability Club. “If we wer to get the $3,500, we would be exploring any kind of other projects that we can do on campus, and I’m mainly interested in educational programming for the college students,” Ruiter commented. Ruiter is also very interested in putting the money towards promoting trees on campus through Tree Campus U.S.A. This is a program that will helps conserve energy used on campus, reduce carbon dioxide in the air and educate students all through planting trees.
How can you get involved?
Anyone can get join Elevate Energy. Becoming a volunteer with the program is the first step in getting involved. All one has to do is get in contact with Ruiter or contact a current volunteer member. From there, Traylor comments, “There are dozens of things you can do when you’re a volunteer.” Some of these things include doing presentations, public speaking, graphic designing and doing research and data entry. For adults, house parties earn lots of points and can be educational and fun.
Traylor got involved April of 2018. Her environmental science teacher made a comment to her about the program and how the high school would benefit from it. Traylor then contacted the program instructor and started getting involved. She ended up being the very first student volunteer. “To have the opportunity to give back means everything,” she says. “I’m going to do it, and I have a goal. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do.”
Upcoming Events
The next event that Ruiter is in the process of planning will be dorm visits. A representative of Elevate Energy plans to set up booths in the parlor of each hall and educate students on energy consumption. Ruiter says, “She would talk to college students about the questions you would ask when you’re going to rent an apartment…this organization is out there trying to help you, the consumer, save on your bill.”