Employees help Stuff the Bus, donate school supplies
Mississippi Power employee volunteers in several Community Connection chapters are doing their part through donations and United Way Stuff the Bus campaigns to make sure young students have items they need when they return to school next month.
The Jackson-George chapter of Community Connection started a school supply drive on July 16 and it will end on Aug. 6. Supplies collected at Plant Daniel, the Chevron Co-Gen plant and the Pascagoula Service Center will go to Magnolia Middle School in Moss Point.
“Our group does a lot of tutoring at Magnolia, so we already have a good relationship established with the school,” said Fred Perryman, chapter president and maintenance team leader at Plant Daniel. “Oftentimes, teachers will spend their own money to make sure their students have what they need. We want to do what we can do to take that burden off teachers and provide those children with all of the tools required for a good education.”
In East Mississippi, Community Connection members are donating about $3,000 worth of supplies to schools in Lauderdale, Kemper, Clarke and Newton counties.
Employees from Plant Ratcliffe recently assisted with a Stuff the Bus supply drop-off location at Pilgrim Foods Grocery and those were delivered to the two elementary schools in Kemper County.
Meridian-area employees delivered supplies to about 10 elementary schools in Lauderdale County and Meridian. In Newton County, employees partner with the local Chamber of Commerce to collect and distribute supplies, while looking forward to the same participation in Clarke County.
The Pine Belt chapter of Community Connection has earmarked $1,500 worth of school supplies for Sumrall Middle School and Purvis Middle School in Lamar County.
“This is the third year we’ve done this,” said April Freeman, chapter president. “We have a partnership with Elkins Wholesale in Laurel to purchase supplies at their cost and they deliver it for us as well. We have created a great partnership with them and they usually throw in a few extra items.”
The Coast and General Office chapters each donated $200 worth of school supplies through Goodwill Industries and CASA of Harrison County, respectively.
“Efforts like these throughout our service territory reinforce our commitment to education in the communities we have the privilege to serve,” said Billy Thornton, vice president of External Affairs and Shared Services.
Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for more than 187,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. With nearly 160 megawatts of approved solar energy capacity, Mississippi Power is the largest partner in providing renewable energy in the state of Mississippi. Visit our website at mississippipower.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
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