The Edge of the Wilderness Empty Bowls Project on Thursday, March 15 is a major fund-raiser for the North Itasca Food Shelf and part of a national movement to fill food shelves throughout the country. Community involvement and awareness of the problem of hunger are important components of this project. The people of Bigfork, Marcell, Effie and surrounding areas are supporting the 3rd Annual Empty Bowls Project in a number of ways.

The Bigfork Lions Club and a Round Up Grant from the Northern Itasca Electric Coop supplied start-up costs for clay, glazes and advertising so that all the proceeds from the Empty Bowls meal will go to help hungry people.

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It’s a simple idea: voluntarily round up each bill to the next dollar and donate the proceeds to local organizations for worthwhile projects.

Although it is pennies on the billing, the pennies add up to significant help for local groups. This April, about $11,000 will be available for grant awards. Distributions are made twice each year by an independent board of trustees based on applications received. The application deadline for the spring grant awards is April 6.

Applications are available through North Itasca Electric by calling (800) 762-4048, by email, or by contacting your cooperative director or one of the Trust Board representatives listed below:

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Imagine spending almost a week in Washington D.C. with about 1500 other high school juniors and seniors - meeting people from around the country, seeing our country’s history in its national monuments, meeting our state Legislators and learning about how our political system works and the rural electric cooperative’s place in it.

Participants come back with stories of having a wonderful and eye opening time. This summer North Itasca Electric Cooperative will send a Member’s son or daughter, currently a high school junior or senior, to Washington, D.C. as part of the national Youth Tour June 9-15.

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With winter being here there is always a greater risk of house fires. Most of the time these fires are due to chimney problems, or sometimes a wiring problem. A lot of these fires could be prevented if you take the extra precaution of checking your chimney for cracks and cleaning it regularly during the months it is getting used.

The same goes for dryers. Most people do not think of a dryer as something that could easily burn your house down but they can and do. Here are some tips to prevent this from happening to you.

The Midwest’s power grid was operating near capacity during the biting cold temperatures in early February. At noon on Feb. 6, 15,000 megawatts (MW) of power were flowing over the region’s grid, with only 600 MW in reserve, according to the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), which manages the region’s electric grid. In summer, power demand surges in the hottest part of the day. In winter, demand peaks in morning when people get ready for work and school and again early in the evening when they return.