[B]RATTLEBORO – In some ways, it’s easy to measure the losses caused by Vermont Yankee’s December 2014 shutdown: There are hundreds of fewer jobs in Windham County, and the nuclear plant’s tax payments already have dwindled, with more reductions to come.
While the nuclear decommissioning process will take decades, the loss of Yankee’s charitable contributions was felt almost immediately.
Vermont Yankee distributed $175,000 in donations in 2014, but that money is now gone with no more to follow, and there are far fewer plant staffers left to give their time in the community.
“That money did stop flowing after calendar year 2014,” plant spokesman Marty Cohn said.
At nonprofit organizations around Windham County, administrators are trying to figure out how to replace Vermont Yankee’s charitable giving and its employees’ reliable volunteerism.
The impacts are many and varied. Youth Services is missing Entergy’s help with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program; Harris Hill Ski Jump organizers are coping with the absence of a longtime sponsor; and Rescue Inc. has lost an important contributor to its ever-more-costly ambulance purchases, to name just a few.
“We’re going to have to find some other donors, but we’re one of many nonprofits in the area that is out looking for alternative funding,” Drew Hazelton, Rescue Inc.’s operations chief, said as he prepared to kick off both a capital and annual campaign for the Brattleboro-based medic service.
“There’s a limited amount of funding out there,” Hazelton added.
There are exceptions. Vermont Yankee owner Entergy gave $350,000 earlier this year as a parting gift to Monadnock Economic Development Corp. in southwestern New Hampshire. And Cohn said some leftover money was used for a three-year, step-down grant program for Brattleboro’s Groundworks Collaborative, which offers critical programs including local homeless shelters and a busy food shelf.
Groundworks is getting $20,000 from Entergy this year, $15,000 next year and $10,000 in 2017. After that, the program ends.
“We are thankful that Entergy created a plan to slowly decrease their funding over a period of three years,” said Josh Davis, Groundworks executive director. He noted, though, that Entergy had been giving $30,000 annually to the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center, which was merged into the newly created Groundworks organization this year.
“As an agency, it will be difficult to replace the large annual donation from Entergy, which they have been making for over 20 years,” Davis said.
That’s the dilemma many nonprofit directors are facing.
The plant was a “good friend” of Harris Hill Ski Jump for almost 30 years, said Patricia Howell, the organization’s president. In addition to contributing $20,000 to the ski jump’s 2007 capital campaign, Entergy’s annual support for Harris Hill ranged from $3,000 to $5,000. The February 2016 jump will be the first without Vermont Yankee sponsorship.
“While we had plenty of notice that their support would be ending, to date we have not been able to find a replacement sponsor at their level of support,” Howell said.
Across town at the United Way of Windham County, administrators are in the midst of their second campaign without Entergy’s support, according to executive director Carmen Derby. Vermont Yankee had matched employee contributions dollar-for-dollar, Derby said, and the company’s average campaign contribution had been more than $60,000.
That’s no small loss for an organization with a roughly $500,000 annual budget. For the first United Way campaign without Entergy, administrators chose to use some reserve funding to alleviate the impact, Derby said. Now, they’re trying to better educate local residents about how many programs the organization supports – initiatives such as free tax preparation, a free dental care day and an online volunteer center, among others.
“It is our job to really do a better job educating the community around the work that’s being done here,” Derby said. “We believe that’s going to help us keep doing this work.”
Brattleboro-based Youth Services also is continuing its work, but without the $10,000 or so that Vermont Yankee typically chipped in every year. Executive Director Russell Bradbury-Carlin understands the impact of losing such a big donor – especially since corporate donations often offer nonprofits more flexibility than grants and foundation funding – but he and his staffers are trying to take it in stride.
“For us, I know it was a significant piece of our corporate sponsorship – a little less than a third,” Bradbury-Carlin said. “But with any nonprofit and fundraising, you juggle five balls at once. You have to be flexible, and you have to kind of anticipate shifts in funding.”
It’s not just the lost funding that troubles local nonprofit leaders. They’re also seeing fewer volunteers, since Vermont Yankee employees fanned out into the community to assist with charitable causes.
“They would put together a big team every year for our Bowl for Kids’ Sake, our fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters,” Bradbury-Carlin said.
At Groundworks, Davis has similar concerns. Entergy employees “have made much-needed donations for things such as holiday toys and upgrades to the Groundworks Drop In Center facility itself,” he said.
Also, “we’ve received tremendous support from (Vermont Yankee) employees that will be sorely missed – including serving on the board of directors (and) providing volunteers and materials for large remodel projects at both Groundworks locations,” Davis said.
At Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, where it’s estimated that Vermont Yankee gave about $10,000 annually, staff will miss Entergy employees. “In addition to the financial contributions that VY made, they were always great at mobilizing their staff for the hospital as volunteer staff at events,” said Gina Pattison, the hospital’s development and marketing director. “They also did in-kind donations.”
That’s not to say, of course, that all volunteerism has ended at Vermont Yankee, where about 300 employees remain. Nor has all charitable fundraising stopped, though it’s happening on a smaller scale these days.
“Our employees have the opportunity to have money taken out of their paycheck, and then Entergy sends it to the charity of their choosing,” Cohn said. “That’s been continuing.”
The transitioning of some portions of the Vermont Yankee plant to “cold and dark” status has had ancillary benefits for area nonprofits. Cohn said Vermont Yankee office furniture has been donated to organizations such as St. Michael School and Windham County Sheriff’s Office, and extra cots were sent to Brattleboro’s overflow shelter.
Also, discount sales of Vermont Yankee’s surplus tables and chairs have raised money for Project Feed the Thousands and Westminster-based Southeastern Vermont Community Action, also known as SEVCA.
SEVCA Executive Director Steve Geller said Entergy recently contacted the organization about donating the proceeds of an event to Share the Warmth.
But administrators like Geller know those donations are short term. So they’re resolving to work harder while also hoping other potential donors take note of the void left by Vermont Yankee.
“It might encourage other companies to maybe give a little bit more,” Bradbury-Carlin said. “In general, in this community, people are really open to that and generous. That’s been my experience.”
