Employees donate time, money to Multiple Sclerosis Society

Mississippi Power employees and volunteers recently took part in a record-setting fundraiser for the Alabama-Mississippi Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The MS Dinner of Champions honored Gulfport’s Chief Administrative Officer Dr. John Kelly with the prestigious Hope Award for exemplary community service. The Dinner of Champions raised more than $64,000, representing a 25 percent increase over the previous year’s event.

The dinner also highlighted a year of successful programs where volunteers from Community Connection were involved.

“Earlier this year, a group of fellow employees helped clean up and make much-needed repairs to the home of a former colleague suffering from the effects of multiple sclerosis at the Society’s Day of Caring,” said Society board member Pat Wylie, Community Development representative. “Prior to that, another group banded together to raise more than $3,500 at the Walk MS in Ocean Springs.”

Wylie added that aside from raising much-needed funds, events like these help elevate awareness of MS and the challenges faced by those living with the complicated disease, for which there is no cure.

“The Dinner of Champions concept, held in cities across America, was originated in New York in 1973 by NFL greats Merlin Olsen, Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell,” Wylie said. “A similar event has been held in Jackson for almost 30 years. We got the Gulf Coast event going five years ago, and it keeps on growing.”

Funds from the dinner support MS chapter-based programs including counseling, equipment assistance, transportation, respite care, employment education, physical activity programs and direct financial assistance.

Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for nearly 187,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power ranked first in the Southeastern Electric Exchange’s 2016 Safety Performance Reports and is consistently recognized as an industry leader in reliability, customer service and safety. Visit our websites at www.mississippipower.com and www.mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.