The Nate Chute Foundation is the recent recipient of a $157,500 Flathead Electric Cooperative Community Education Grant funded by unclaimed capital credits.

The funds will be awarded over five years to support a long-term regional educational mental health initiative led by the Nate Chute Foundation in partnership with the JED Foundation.

Both organizations work to support, educate and empower mental health and suicide prevention. Nicci Schellinger Daniher, Nate Chute Foundation Program and Engagement Director, presented the Nate Chute Foundation and JED Foundation Mental Health Initiative: Strengthening Our Schools and Communities Across the Flathead Electric Co-op Region grant request to Flathead Electric’s trustees. Daniher discussed NCF’s goal of reaching nearly 10,000 students and 1,000 staff and administrators across the co-op's service area with educational support intended to equip schools with sustainable tools to support youth mental wellness and prevent suicide. 

She noted that Nate Chute Foundation, supported by a grant from the Kalispell Education Foundation and JED scholarships, is already funding the JED high school program at Flathead and Glacier high schools. Through Daniher, the Nate Chute Foundation requested assistance from the co-op in expanding its reach.

“Flathead Electric’s support means that the Nate Chute Foundation can expand JED education to 98% of high school students within the co-op’s service area, and all but three rural school districts," Daniher said. "Flathead County’s suicide rate has historically been among the highest in the nation, and especially in rural communities, a student suicide becomes a community-wide trauma event. This effort reflects a shared investment in the future by helping educators, families and communities create safer, more connected learning environments for the region’s youth.”

The co-op’s Community Education Grants re-invest unclaimed capital credits back into the community. As a not-for-profit, member-owned co-op, Flathead Electric’s business model means that when it brings in more revenue than is needed to operate, that money is allocated back to its members as capital credits. Each year, some of these capital credits go unclaimed, usually because members move away without updating their mailing addresses. When capital credits go unclaimed for five years or more, Montana law allows the money to be used for educational purposes, such as funding the co-op’s Community Education Grant awards.

Tia Robbin, Flathead Electric Cooperative's chief administrative officer, said, “We try our best to connect members with their unclaimed capital credits, and we’re also grateful that Montana law allows us to occasionally support impactful education projects with those funds. The Nate Chute Foundation’s mental health education initiative will be felt throughout the service area, and with the way the program is designed for sustainability, it will continue to benefit the communities Flathead Electric serves for years to come.”