Voting For The Power of Good Giveaway Underway

Voting is underway for the latest round of NV Energy's Power of Good Giveaway.  It's a contest where nonprofits from around the state can win money to help their cause.  The Veterans Guest House won the last giveaway - one that had a military theme.

"What we did when we submitted the application is we said we'd use that money to scholarship our guests who aren't able to pay," said Veterans Guest House CEO Noreen Leary.  "We ask our guests to donate $25 but no one is turned away for an inability to pay.  That $10,000 paid for 400 nights of lodging."

This most recent contest has an environmental theme and more than 30 Northern Nevada nonprofits are in the running.

"These organizations put in an application, we gather all the information and put them on the website," said Mary Simmons of NV Energy.  "We've advertised and tried to get the word out to the people that will vote on those organizations and their cause - that's important to make sure they know where the money will go to and that it's not just a popularity contest but something people can look at and think about."

In both Northern and Southern Nevada, the winner will get $10,000, second place, $3,000 and third place, $2,000 to help their environmental missions.

"The money we give to this program comes from our foundation and that comes from our shareholders who donate," Simmons said.  "None of it comes from our customers and we donate it to worthy causes throughout the state."

NV Energy says it's a good way to help get the word out about the work these nonprofits do.

"We thought this would be a great way to get feedback from the community and a great way for the organizations to get some recognition," Simmons said.  "They've been really clever about putting information on their own websites and making videos."

All the entries for this latest contest are posted here: https://www.nvenergy.com/about-nvenergy/community/foundation/pog-giveaway

"If you'd like to support, by all means go online, read about them, find out more about what's in your community and give them a vote," Leary said.

There are two separate contests for Northern and Southern Nevada, each for $15,000.  Voting started today and goes through Friday.