For Immediate Release: November 3, 2017

Nogales, Ariz. – UniSource Energy Services (UES) has awarded $15,000 in grants to six local nonprofit groups that support education opportunities for children and provide critical services to Santa Cruz County residents.

UES Community Impact Grants are awarded for programs with measurable results that help vulnerable populations in Arizona communities where UES provides natural gas and electric service. UES will award a total of $80,000 in Impact Grants to communities across Arizona this year.

Six grants were presented today during a luncheon at Orenccios Ristorante Terrazza, 1855 N. Grand Ave. in Nogales. Grants presented today include:

• $2,500 to the Arizona Theatre Company for its Theatre On The Go – Shakespeare In The 21st Century project. The program will give about 250 Rio Rico and Nogales high school students an opportunity to learn about the basics of theater production and stage a performance while discussing social and community issues.
• $2,500 to Child & Family Resources, Inc. for the First Steps child abuse prevention program, which will provide parenting support and education to approximately 50 prenatal and postnatal parents in under-served, rural communities.
• $3,000 to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, which provides emergency food boxes to families, seniors, homeless people and others in need of assistance.
• $1,000 to the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. The funds will enable more than three dozen elementary school students to attend a 24-week after-school leadership development program that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math.
• $1,000 to the Rich River Athletics Club to help pay for elementary school cross country and track meets that serve hundreds of local students.
• $5,000 to Santa Cruz Training Programs for Transition to Employment, which provides job training and employment support to youth with cognitive and physical disabilities.

UES employee volunteers and other stakeholders selected this year’s recipients through a competitive process that attracted more than 60 applications. Winners were chosen based on program effectiveness and sustainability, applicants’ organizational capabilities and other criteria.

UES Community Impact Grants are funded from corporate resources, not customers’ rates. The grants are just part of the company’s award-winning community service efforts, which include direct contributions, in-kind services and volunteer support for local nonprofit groups.

UES provides electric service to approximately 95,000 customers in Mohave and Santa Cruz counties. The company also provides natural gas to approximately 154,000 customers in northern and southern Arizona. For more information, visit uesaz.com. UES and its parent company, UNS Energy, are subsidiaries of Fortis, Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. For more information, visit fortisinc.com.

News Media Contact: Joseph Barrios, (520) 884-3725, jbarrios@uesaz.com