Fifty-seven students from Lincoln, Pike, St. Charles and Warren counties received a total of $28,500 in scholarship awards from the Cuivre River Electric Community Trust.Local students receiving scholarships are Reece Berry, Joseph Durand, Sasha Haggett, Erin Heggemann, Sydney Heggemann, Danielle Kothe, Lindsey Kothe, Brittany McPike and Maile Wortham.Scholarship funds are donated by Cuivre River Electric members who participate in Operation Round Up by rounding up their electric bill payments each month to the next highest dollar. Since the program began in 1997, more than $840,000 has been awarded to help over 1,770 area students achieve their academic goals.Students are eligible to be considered if they live in the Cuivre River Electric Cooperative service area and maintain a minimum GPA of 2.5 while attending undergraduate courses at an accredited university or technical school. Applicants are also asked to provide an official transcript and two letters of recommendation, write a narrative to highlight their academic achievements and state their career goals, and demonstrate a financial need. The scholarship may also be used for adult continuing education courses in their career fields.In addition to scholarships, Operation Round Up was founded to help address unmet needs in the areas of health, youth, education, home weatherization, community and emergency services. These funds are available to help individuals, families and organizations in the CREC service area. Operation Round Up applications are available online at www.cuivre.com. The next scholarship deadline is Oct. 1, 2014.CREC was established by local residents in 1941 to provide electricity in portions of Lincoln, Pike, St. Charles and Warren counties where electricity was not available. The cooperative now serves more than 60,000 homes and businesses. For more information on Operation Round Up and Cuivre River Electric Cooperative visit www.cuivre.com or call 800-392-3709, extension 230.Cuivre River Electric awards $28,500 in scholarships