GreenTouch volunteers pick up brush in a pine grove recently thinned out by park workers. Other GreenTouch work groups planted 4-year-old white pines and cleaned up lakeshore.

East Central Energy volunteers lend a hand at Father Hennepin State Park

BRAHAM, Minn. - A record number of East Central Energy volunteers planted trees and cleaned up at Father Hennepin State Park last Saturday as part of the fifth annual GreenTouch Day.

GreenTouch is a partnership between Minnesota's Touchstone Energy® cooperatives, the Minnesota State Park System and the Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota. This year, more than 1,600 volunteers donated nearly 6,000 hours to help prepare for the estimated 8.1 million visitors who use the parks each year.

"This is one of the ways Touchstone Energy cooperatives show their commitment to community," says Roxanne Fedder, ECE communications coordinator. "Members, directors, employees and camp visitors get together for a fun day and help spruce up the state parks we all enjoy."

Electric cooperatives also help fund the State Park Guide and Junior Park Naturalist programs of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Touchstone Energy® is a national alliance of local, consumer-owned electric cooperatives dedicated to providing high standards of service to customers, large and small.

East Central Energy www.eastcentralenergy.com is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 52,000 homes, farms and businesses in east central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. ECE also provides Internet and long distance services.