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Orange County REMC Lineworker To Travel To Guatemala

Last updated on Friday, March 10, 2017

(ORLEANS) - Orange County REMC lineworker Robert E. White will join a crew of 15 other Indiana electric cooperative linemen traveling to Guatemala in mid-March as part of an international initiative to bring electricity to a developing area in Guatemala.

"Project Indiana: Empowering Global Communities for a Better Tomorrow" will bring electricity to a part of the Central American country where none is available. The crew will spend the second half of March electrifying the village of El Zapotillo (in Cuilco, Huehuetenango). When completed, approximately 50 homes, a school, a clinic and a church will have electricity for the first time.

White joined Orange County REMC in August of 2006 as an Groundman. He became a Journeyman Lineman in 2012.

"Orange County REMC is very proud to have Robert White represent the Co-Op on this trip. Robert volunteered for this trip which says a lot about the character and love for this job that he possesses. He shows through actions a true cooperative spirit," commented Matt Deaton, General Manager/CEO.

This is the Indiana electric cooperatives' third trip to Guatemala. In August 2012, 28 Hoosier lineworkers from 17 of Indiana's electric cooperatives, including two from Orange County REMC, spent four weeks working across the mountainous terrain to construct more than 20 miles of power lines and bring electricity to three villages. In April 2015, 14 lineworkers battled extreme heat and the rugged land to string 11 miles of wire to connect 76 poles across 2,500 feet of mountains.

Orange County REMC, located in Orleans, Ind., is an electric utility cooperative serving over 7,000 members in Orange, Washington, Lawrence, Martin, and Crawford counties and maintains over 1,100] miles of line. For more information about the cooperative visit www.myremc.coop.

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