$2,500 Community Grant To Supply Public Safety Barriers for Festival, Events
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Entergy Arkansas recently donated $2,500 to Rison Shine Community Development, Inc., in philanthropic giving to support public safety at the Rison in the Fall Festival and other events through the use of portable safety barriers.
Entergy Arkansas is the state's oldest and largest electricity provider, serving more than 730,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in 63 counties from the Delta to the Boston Mountains.
"Rison Shine is pleased to receive this grant award and put it towards purchasing barriers to use at our events," said President Celeste Beatty. "The grant has a meaningful impact on our community because it will be shared by our fellow organizations under Kickstart Cleveland County as a whole." Douglas Boultinghouse, director of the Rison in the Fall Festival, and Rison Shine secretary/ treasurer, expresses gratitude to Entergy Arkansas for the contribution.
"With the festival specifically, there are areas we have to keep closed off to the public for safety of the attendees and staging equipment," he said. "These barriers will serve that purpose." Rison Shine Community Development's mission is dedicated to supporting community and economic development efforts that will benefit Rison, Arkansas, with emphasis on the downtown area.
"We are thrilled to announce our most recent charitable grant to Rison Shine Community Development, Inc." said Brandi Hinkle, public affairs representative for Entergy Arkansas. "As a company, our mission is to continually improve the communities we serve and is also reflected through our philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy." "We do that by investing in solutions through our Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that attack the root causes of poverty, support education and workforce development, and protect and preserve the environment," Hinkle said. "This collaboration with Rison Shine Community Development demonstrates the dedication of Entergy Arkansas to building bright futures for all our customers and being good corporate citizens." This grant award to Rison Shine is based on the organization's alignment with the Entergy Charitable Foundation philanthropic focus on sustaining families with poverty solutions, education and workforce opportunities and environmental stewardship. By providing support through grants like these, Entergy Arkansas seeks to equip Rison Shine and other nonprofit partners and service groups with the resources needed to improve the quality of life for those it serves.
Entergy Arkansas has a long history of supporting local communities financially and with volunteers each year. In honor of its 110th anniversary in November 2023, the company donated $110,000 each to six partner nonprofits as part of its "Entergy Arkansas Bright Futures Campaign" to help build strong communities. Throughout the year, the company awarded more than 100 non-profit partners and community organizations with nearly $2 million in grants. Additionally, employees and retirees dedicated more than 29,000 hours of volunteer service valued at more than $900,000.
Entergy Charitable Foundation grants are provided solely from shareholder profit and not Entergy Arkansas customer dollars. The utility also has a robust employee volunteer program and community engagement focus on helping customers with the most critical needs. For more information, visit www.entergy.com/csr/giving/.