News
Press Releases » Montreat Conference Center Receives New Electric Car
Montreat Conference Center Receives New Electric Car
Montreat Conference Center recently received a grant for the purchase of an electric passenger vehicle. The $10,000 grant was presented to the conference center on Sunday, January 25, by First Presbyterian Church and the D. Thomason Grant Committee in Shreveport, LA. “First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport has a long-standing appreciation for and relationship with Montreat Conference Center,” said the Rev. Pendleton B. Peery, pastor of the church. “Our ministry has been edified by the time we have spent being nurtured in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina. The D. Thomason committee and the Session feel privileged to provide support to Montreat so that more congregations may benefit from its mission to strengthen the members and congregations of the Presbyterian Church.”
The vehicle, a Tomberlin E-Merge, is a fully electric, street legal passenger vehicle with seating for four and a top speed of 25 miles per hour. “Montreat is basically a pedestrian community, but there are places where walking is a challenge for some of our guests,” explained Montreat Conference Center’s president, Pete Peery, who was present at the Shreveport church to accept the gift. “This new vehicle is a two-fold blessing,” he continued. “Thanks to the support of our friends at the church in Shreveport, we are now able to transport older visitors and those with disabilities safely and comfortably, and in our on-going commitment to being good stewards of God’s creation, we are now using a transportation alternative that will do minimal harm to the environment.” Plugged into an electric power source instead of a gasoline pump, the vehicle will go 30 miles on a single charge. Operation is almost silent, and there are no greenhouse gas emissions that would impact the community’s air quality.
Montreat Conference Center, the Town of Montreat, and Montreat College, collaborating through Montreat Landcare, a newly formed grassroots conservation group, have also received a grant from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the purchase of an electric utility vehicle to be shared between the three Montreat entities. “Each step we take, both individually and in partnership with the town and the college,” concluded Peery, “is a positive step toward responsible earth stewardship in our community.”
