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 Start Safe
North Carolina’s electric cooperatives have been a proud partner of the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals since 1972, when the Board of Directors pledged $40,000 to help create the center. Since then, the co-ops have contributed more than $1 million in support of youth burn prevention and education outreach programs, improvements in the pediatric playroom, research for wound care and healing processes and other projects.
In 2011 the Burn Center opened its new Acute Burn and Wound Care unit, made possible by support from North Carolina’s electric cooperatives. The new unit allows staff to cross-train in burn care, provides space for a new wound treatment area and adds 15 beds to increase the center’s total capacity to 36.
The electric cooperatives are also working in conjunction with the Burn Center and the N.C. Head Start Program on the Start Safe program, a free fire and burn safety program for preschoolers and their families available in English and Spanish. The program’s goal is to reduce the number of home fires and burn injuries to preschoolers. The Burn Center’s community outreach staff works with preschool educators and fire departments throughout the state to conduct training sessions and familiarize them with the curriculum.
The general managers of North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives created an annual golf tournament in 1998 to finance the sponsorship of the Burn Center and programs like Start Safe. The tournament consistently raises more than $100,000 a year, and the money is presented to the Burn Center board each February.
Partnership Captured on Film
Through its partnership with the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center and UNC Athletics, North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives are able to facilitate a visit between UNC athletes and patients at the Burn Center each year. This visit, which lifts the spirits of Burn Center patients, is captured on film and shown at select UNC football and basketball games. Watch the 2011 video here.
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