Appalachian Voices is excited to announce that we are increasing the grand prize for our High Country Home Energy Makeover Contest from $2,500 to $4,000 worth of home energy improvements. This increase was made possible by the Blumenthal Foundation, which has joined the High Country Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative in funding the contest.

The increase will allow the impact of our initiative to almost double! Home energy upgrades will save the grand prize winners even more money on their energy costs and improve the comfort of their home. The added investment in energy efficiency will help promote local jobs and reduce the harmful environmental impacts of fossil fuels.

The High Country Home Energy Makeover Contest is open to residential members of Blue Ridge Energy who face difficulties financing home energy upgrades on their own. Appalachian Voices will select five families to receive free home energy audits (valued at over $250/each) to evaluate which upgrades would be most beneficial to decrease monthly energy bills. From those five, one household will be selected to win the grand prize of $4,000 in energy upgrades. Examples of the home improvements that may be funded by the award include adding insulation, sealing air leaks and repairing ductwork. The four other families will have the information from their energy audits to begin to make the most cost-effective upgrades as they can.

Further details and applications can be found on the contest webpage.

Our North Carolina Energy Savings team has been hard at work getting information out about the contest so that nobody will miss out on the chance of $4,000 worth of upgrades. With less than a month until the official application deadline of April 24, there is no time to waste to get those applications in! Members of our team have been posting flyers this past month in Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties, as well as attending local events like the Winter Farmers Market in Boone and the Banff Mountain Film Festival at Appalachian State University. Through this outreach, our team is connecting with community members who are interested in energy efficiency, while giving them the opportunity to win energy upgrades for their homes.

We’ll be at the Ashe Outreach Fish Fry on Friday, April 6 from 4-8 p.m. Drop on by!

Would you like to get involved? To further engage our volunteers and interns, we will be hosting canvassing trainings and volunteer days. These events will allow those who have an interest in Appalachian Voices and our work on energy efficiency to interact with the High Country community and tell them about the opportunities we have to offer. This is a great way to engage with our work and the communities we serve and to learn about door-to-door outreach.

Our first canvassing day took place on Thursday, April 5 and we were able to pass out flyers for the contest and talk to people about being a Blue Ridge Energy member. We will continue to have canvassing days up to the application deadline. If you or your group is interested in a canvassing opportunity, please contact Katie Kienbaum at 828-262-1500 or katie@appvoices.org to arrange a date for training and outreach.

Once again, the deadline for the Home Energy Makeover Contest is quickly approaching, so don’t miss the chance for free home energy upgrades and apply today! The application is available online, at appvoices.org/energycontest, and can be mailed to your home. For inquiries contact Rebecca Bauer at becca@appvoices.org or at 828-262-1500.

**This blog has been edited on April 18 to reflect an extension of the deadline from April 20 to April 24.