Grants are Part of Nearly $500,000 in PNM funding for Nonprofit Community Organizations

across New Mexico

(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) - At a Silver City Chamber of Commerce luncheon today, the PNM Resources Foundation recognized the recipients of the 2015 PNM Power Up Grants from the Southwestern New Mexico region. The company awarded almost $90,000 to five local nonprofit organizations to fund projects designed to build vibrant communities. The Southwestern area grant recipients are:

· Fort Bayard Restoration and Development Coalition - Silver City
· LifeQuest, Inc. - Silver City
· Silver City Museum Society Corporation - Silver City
· Sherman Family Charitable Foundation - Deming
· SPIRIT of Hidalgo - Lordsburg

“The PNM Resources Foundation is dedicated to helping local communities in New Mexico thrive and improve the quality of life for their residents,” said Diane Harrison Ogawa, executive director of the PNM Resources Foundation. “We are proud to partner with organizations like these who are working to build stronger communities.”

The Fort Bayard Restoration and Development Coalition received a grant of $9,058 to build and install two lighted gateway signage stations. The signage stations will help identify the community of Santa Clara as the gateway to Fort Bayard.

LifeQuest, Inc. will use its grant of $19,690 to transform a dusty, unused site into an outdoor space with a photographic art installation, mini library, native landscaping, benches and shade structures.

The Silver City Museum Society Corporation received a grant of $20,000 to create an exhibit in the Museum’s courtyard that simulates how the Big Ditch was created by high flood waters in 1895.

The Sherman Family Charitable Foundation will use its grant of $20,000 to put in shade trees, places to walk and sit, and a covered pavilion at “Rabbit” Park for events, classes, family gatherings and picnics.

SPIRIT of Hidalgo received a grant of $20,000 to continue transforming a vacant lot next to City Hall into a green space that can be used for public or private occasions such as award ceremonies, weddings, farmer’s markets and music nights.

These grants are part of the PNM Power Up Grant Program, which in 2015 will award almost $500,000 to 27 nonprofit organizations throughout New Mexico to fund projects that build vibrant communities. The grants range from $9,000 to $20,000 and are used to fund projects including building youth sports fields, increasing wheelchair accessibility to facilities and renovating historical buildings. Nonprofit organizations from all over New Mexico submitted more than 80 applications.

With headquarters in Albuquerque, PNM is the largest electricity provider in New Mexico, serving 500,000 customers in dozens of communities across the state. PNM is a subsidiary of PNM Resources, an energy holding company also headquartered in Albuquerque. For more information, visit PNM.com.

In 1983, PNM shareholders created the PNM Foundation as a separate, nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation governed by a board of trustees comprised of PNM employees. In 2005, with the acquisition of First Choice Power and Texas-New Mexico Power Co., the foundation expanded its' scope to include parts of Texas. No customer funds are part of the PNM Resources Foundation endowment. For more information, visit PNM.com.

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