PAULDING, Ohio (WOWO): An electric co-op surprised the organizers of a charity that gives veterans trips to and from the national veterans memorials in Washington D.C. with a big donation Saturday.

Paulding Putnam Electric donated  $141,754 to the Northeast Indiana Honor Flight program.  Honor Flight officials were initially expecting a donation of about half that.

“It’s a large amount of funds to raise, but PPEC employees felt it necessary to raise funds for such a worthy cause. In addition, after discovering there were over 400 veterans on a waiting list to take the flight, the PPEC employees were all in to take on the big task of raising the funds,” said Marketing & Economic Development Manager Erika Willitzer.

The Honor Flight program serves both northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio residents. The donation will cover the to-and-from costs of two flights. The next Honor Flight is in September.