Energizer
A statewide newsletter for Citizens of Georgia Power and Company Management
December 2012
State President’s
Message
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Ashley Koby
“Lighting Up Lives For Fifty Years”
It’s that time of year when you are lighting up lives more
than ever! Throughout this issue, you’ll see happy
charities accepting checks that you earned through the
Chapter Matching Funds Program. These donations to
local charities truly make us “A Citizen Wherever We
Serve” in this time of economic hardship. Also, you’ll
see many ways you are “lighting up” the faces of
children during the holidays. There are many other
ways you have continued our fifty-year tradition of
helping others. Here are just a few:
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You are on track to report more than 77,000 hours
of community service (a 10% increase over last
year). These service hours are valued at more
than $1,677,830!
You granted 46 interest-free loans from ELF for a
total of $ 92,000.
You’ve helped children of deceased and disabled
employees with more than $77,600 from Electric
Kids, Inc.
You provided over 320 nights lodging at the 5490
Highpoint Road and the Hemby House (that’s a
conservative estimated benefit of $32,000).
You funded a $2500 Georgia Power Scholarship.
You coordinated 61 projects and involved 1203
volunteers in Martin Luther King Day of Service
projects.
You coordinated 40 environmental projects for
586 volunteers for Earth Day.
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You participated in Relay For Life events at 42
locations to raise $ 215,414.
You had volunteers participate in 13 March of
Dimes events to raise $76,056.
You donated an additional $200,000 to your
communities.
You provided $233,000 to charities in your
locations through the Chapter Matching Funds
Program.
You have collected and donated over 100,000
pounds of food to local food banks and shelters.
You’ve provided happy holidays to more than
2000 children.
3655 of you have joined this great organization
during our Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration. This
is the second largest membership.
Your fundraising efforts have made it possible
for us to increase benefits for Electric Kids
beginning January 2013. You’ll hear more.
Stephanie and I wish you the very happiest of
holidays. I know you will continue your great work in
support of Josh Stallings and the 2013 State Board.
As always, you have exceeded any goals set and
increased last year’s totals. YOU are the greatest
volunteers anywhere! I have been honored to
represent you this year as State President.
Thank you!
May you have a wonderful holiday season with
family and friends. Please know that YOU have
made the year brighter for all the people whose
lives you have touched. On behalf of the State
Office and Board, I thank you for all you do.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Safe and
Happy New Year!
State Coordinator
East Region Chapters Begin Joint
Hospitality Project
Lighting Up Lives Awards
Congratulations again to the chapters who won an award
during 2012.
Athens
Augusta
Clayton
Columbus
Conyers
Customer Care Center
Dublin
Forest Park
Gainesville
Gwinnett
Heart of Ga/Macon
Jefferson Street
Metro South
Plant Bowen
Plant Yates
Valdosta
South Cobb Chapter and
Environmental Affairs Partner
The South Cobb Chapter partnered with employees in
Environmental Affairs to collect $1,000 and adopt a
family with four children, ages four to twelve. The group
was able to buy bedding, jackets, shoes, clothing, toys,
a bike, roller skates (and protective safety gear) and
MP3 players for this family.
As announced at Annual Meeting, beginning Dec.1 the
chapters located in the East Region – Augusta, Thomson,
Waynesboro, Plant Vogtle along with the Augusta Chapter
of the Ambassadors – will visit and provide “goodie” bags
to employees, retirees and their families who are in area
hospitals. We have many who are sent to Augusta area
hospitals. The chapters will rotate months “on call” and
visit the family taking a bag of items that are useful when
staying at the hospital along with contact numbers for
questions and information on local facilities, restaurants,
hotels, transportation, etc.
How can you help with this project? If you know of an
employees, retiree or family member sent to Augusta
for medical care, please call 706-739-1498 to let us know.
H L Thomas and Conyers Chapters
partnered with
Metro East Golf Classic and
also raffled a Green Egg to earn
$7829
for Electric Kids. Thanks!
Brunswick
This year, the Brunswick Chapter did something a little
differently. The members made food boxes with
everything needed to make an entire Thanksgiving meal!
This is a great concept and people seem willing to help
with whatever they can. They stuck to the “whole meal”
theme but got lots of extra food that went to local food
banks! They put together 15 complete meal boxes and 7
bags of food that were distributed to local charities
through Faith Works Ministries and other church affiliates.
(left to right) Maria Padilla, Kristin Cooper, Leah Burch,
Kamecha Sims, and Jessica Hardaway
The group above were
happy and excited to
go shopping for the
adopted family!
Lighting Up Lives With Chapter Matching Funds
Metro West Chapter
Metro West Region Manager Nicole Faulk
and chapter treasurer David Stewart present
$2500 to Carol Fey, Executive Director of
Communities in Schools of Marietta/Cobb Co.
Plant Hammond
(left to right) Nick Slappy, Kayla Mero, Diane
Woodall, Tracy Hawkins, and Hardy Wheeless
delivered $2500 to the Down Syndrome Assn.
Valdosta
Chapter members present $2500 to the
Children’s Advocacy Center
Heart of GA/Macon
Agnes Thompson (left) and Chapter
President LaTonya Lawson ((right) present
$2500 to the Dove Center (Macon Rescue
Mission)
Plant Hammond
(left to right) Janet Spivey, Gretta Wilson,
Kayla Mero and Carman Gibson delivered
$2500 to Open Door Home in Rome.
Valdosta
Chapter members present $2500 to Jacob’s
Ladder - a therapeutic riding center for people
with special needs.
Gainesville
Chapter members are seen making a
$2500 donation to Challenged Child
Augusta
Jeff Butterworth of the chapter presents check
for $2500 to Julie Miller, Executive Director of
Columbus County Community Connections
Augusta
Heart of GA/Macon
LaTonya Lawson presents $2500 to the
Alzheimer’s Association on behalf of the
chapter
Gainesville
Chapter members are seen making a
$2500 donation to The Guest House
Effingham
Jeff Butterworth of the chapter presents check Chapter President Mike Gresham with Archie
for $2500 to Helen McVickery, Board President Jenkins, Director of FORCE, Food Outreach
of When Help Can’t Wait
Cooperative of Effingham which serves the 6
food banks of Effingham County.
Effingham
Athens
Chapter President Mike Gresham with
Bonnie Dixon, Effingham United Way Director
accepting the check for Hammers, Hearts
and Hands program which builds wheelchair
ramps for those in need in Effingham county.
This money will be used to build a wheel
chair ramp at a local stable that provides
horse riding programs for injured veterans
and special needs children in Effingham.
Thomson
Chapter President Parker Land presents
check for $2500 to Safe Homes
Thomson
Forest Park
Chapter President Parker Land presents
check for $2500 to Ferst Foundation
Chapter Co-presidents Terry Bloodworth (left)
and Brion LeShok (right) present check for
$5000 to the Turner Syndrome Society.
Waynesboro
Metro West
Wimberly House Director Nancy Minyard and
board member Wayne Lively, center, accept a
$2500 check from Georgia Power Area
Manager Cam Parker, left, and Suzanne
Sharkey, Waynesboro Chapter President
Metro West Citizen’s Tony Key presents
Susan Worsley of Cherokee County’s
Angel House a check for $2500.
Conyers
Lee Cronan, chapter president, presents the
$5000 matching funds check to Ashley
Roesler, director of Rockdale Emergency
Relief
Gainesville
Gainesville
The Guest House is a nonprofit adult day health
center in Gainesville that gives seniors a place to
enjoy being with others and remain active throughout
the day. One of our Georgia Power retirees
volunteers there weekly teaching the woodshop class.
(Pictured L to R: Tom Davino, Dana Chapman
(Executive Director), Tommy Davis, Calvin Jones,
Allison Zafft, Debbie Powell (Social Services Director)
Clayton
Challenged Child and Friends offers a
tailored and integrated experience where
children with a variety of development delays
and disabilities learn and grow in a full
inclusion program with children who have
typical development. (Pictured L to R: Calvin
Jones, Tom Davino, Tommy Davis, Allison
Zafft, and Dave Earnest (Executive Director)
Pam Jordan, chapter treasurer, at right
and Brittany Spivey of the chapter at left
present a $2,500 check to Richard Powers
of “Richard’s Kids” which provides clothing
to school-age children in need. He was
very grateful for the donation and
commented that the timing was perfect
with their funds running so short during the
holiday season.
Athens
Cheryl Davis, Northeast Region Sales
Manager and President of the Athens Chapter
of Citizens of Georgia Power, and Christy
Terrell, Region External Affairs Manager,
presented Shea Post from the Athens Area
Homeless shelter with a check for $2500 on
12/07/12. The Athens Chapter of Citizens
donated the check to assist the shelter with the
fine work they provide to the community
Northwest Mountain
Marie Cline and Jonathan Ray of North GA
Community Action accept $5000 check
from Jimmy Thompson, Chapter 2nd Vice
President and John Foust, Chapter
Treasurer. This donation will go to assist the
elderly with meals and weatherization
across the 9 counties in the Northwest
Mountain area.
South Cobb Chapter Presentations
Holly Adams, chapter secretary; Jessica Hardaway, chapter president; Gloria Mize,
Past State President; Leah Burch, chapter treasurer and member of the State Board;
along with Rickey Smith, management sponsor presented the $2500 checks to
Col. Dan Zachman of the Georgia National Guard Family Support Foundation
(pictured at left) and Snyder Turner, Executive Director of Calvary Children’s Home
(pictured at right)
Kingsland Chapter Donation Highlighted in Local Paper
Other Chapter Matching Funds Presentations will be featured in January.
Heart of GA/Macon Chapter
Annual Christmas Party for
Needy Children
The Heart of Ga/Macon Chapter held their annual
Christmas Party for needy children in their
community on December 8. They sponsored
28 children with $150.00 each for gifts from their
wish list. The kids had a full lunch with the
members. Santa, Elf and the Grinch were also
available for the occasion. Special guest was
State Board member Todd McCawley. The
chapter also provided gifts to 8 children at the
Dover Center (family of abused spouses).
Valdosta Chapter
Kingsland Chapter
The Kingsland Chapter
received heart-felt
thanks from the mother
of two with another on
the way for providing
a turkey and three boxes
of food for Thanksgiving.
The chapter plans to
help this family and
several others at
Christmas. This is what
CGP is all about!
Heart Walk
Athens Chapter
Valdosta Chapter
had a team at the
Heart Walk. They
raised $2968 and
also manned one of
the water stations
(shown at left)
Hungry at Home Backpack Project
The Athens Chapter exceeded their goal of
750 lbs. of food for Hunger Bowl 2012. With
everyone’s support they were able to
contribute 893 lbs. of food to the Northeast
Georgia Food Bank. These gifts will provide
meals to children, seniors and working
families that can’t afford food for the
holidays.
Thomson
The Valdosta Chapter sponsored a food drive for the
Hungry at Home backpack project. This project is one in
which backpacks are sent home with needy children every
weekend and returned to their school on Monday. The
purpose is to provide meals the children need on the
weekend.
Chapter President Parker Land presents 175 pounds
of food collected for Manna.
CCC’s 2012 CAN HUNGER
CHALLENGE RESULTS
4707 pounds
donated to the local
food pantry
“Helping in His Name”
Plant Hammond
CAN Hunger
Results
The Plant Hammond Chapter was able to donate
2,960 lbs of cans (about 2,800 cans) to food banks
in Rome. They donated about 1,876 cans to the
Rome Community Soup Kitchen, 300 cans to the
Hospitality House for battered women, and 624 cans
to the girls and boys Open Door Home. There were
so many cans donated from Plant Hammond that
they filled up the stock room at the Rome Soup
Kitchen, filled the Hospitality House kitchen FULL,
and filled both the girls and boys homes at the Open
Door Home. In total they raised $1,290 dollars for
cans to be purchased, as well as two boxes of
donated cans.
General Office Chapter
Donates
5481 lbs. for
Atlanta Community
Food Bank
this year.
Gainesville
Forest Park
Chapter
delivers 20
lbs. of
pull tabs to
the
Ronald
McDonald
House
Diana Chow and
Terry Bloodworth
Gainesville Chapter hosted the “Competition Can
Hunger” food drive benefiting the Georgia Mountain
Food Bank. Shelley Scarborough coordinated the
overall effort for the chapter by creating a friendly
competition between the Gainesville Operating HQ,
Gainesville Business Office and the Jefferson,
Winder, Cleveland and Dahlonega Offices. These
efforts resulted in 1,057 canned items donated to
the Georgia Mountain Food Bank. The winner of
the competition was the Gainesville Operating HQ,
and the overall winners were the families in the
Northeast Georgia area that will be able to provide a
healthy meal for their families with this assistance.
The chapter partnered with Sam’s Club and the
Georgia Mountain Food Bank to have a food drive at
Sam’s one night and were able to gather over 500
pounds of food for the food bank
Clayton
Brittany Spivey, 2013 Treasurer of the Clayton Chapter, is
shown below with Christmas baskets that she and her
mother, Kristi Matheson who is also a member of the
chapter, prepared for the residents of FAITH This is a
shelter for abused women and their children. Brittany and
Kristi filled the baskets with items donated by the chapter
members which included pajamas, hats, scarves, gloves,
toiletries and other items that the residents will find useful
during the holiday season.
Gainesville
Augusta Chapter
Adopts
73 Salvation Army Angels
Below are pictures from the Evans
and Walton Way offices of some of
the employees who helped with the
Angel Tree Project. Wendy Brown
was chair for the project.
Walton
Way
Evans
Augusta
Jamie Cheek with the Augusta Chapter presents Ed
Heffernan, Treasurer of The Comfort House, with a
check for $930.00. This was part of the chapter’s yearend disbursement.
Gainesville sponsored a family through the Angel Tree
program with Salvation Army as they do every year. The
effort this year was lead by Margaret Rios. They also will
be volunteering at the distribution day to deliver the gifts
along with meals to hundreds of families in need in the
Gainesville area on Saturday the 15th. (Pictured L to R:
Cathy Parker, Jena Moorhead, Monica Ash, Carolina DelRio, Margaret Rios, Philip Burt, Kristi Barker, and LuAnne
Keck)
Salvation Army’s
Angel Tree
241 Ralph McGill Blvd.,
30 Ivan Allen, Forest Park,
Southern LINC, Metro East,
Jefferson Street &
Customer Care Center
Citizens of Georgia Power has been a proud sponsor of the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program since 1994. This
year, the 7 locations listed above have adopted 650 angels in one of our largest participating years in the metro area.
Our efforts will provide toys and clothes for children in need. The Angels are real children living at or below 150% of
the federal index poverty level who would not normally get gifts under the tree. Thanks to the generosity of our
employees in putting smiles on the faces of 650 children and their families.
This year’s chair, Kristi
Dow, is seen making
sure the packages at
241 Ralph McGill are
secure and angels’
names are in place.
Below photo shows
the 262 angel gifts
from corporate.
Some of the toy donations
from the Forest Park
Chapter are shown above
Billie Jo Driggers,
Sara Sullivan,
Terri Sapp with
Jefferson Street gifts.
Salvation Army truck
loaded with gifts
from the
Customer Care Center
Christmas Lights Shine on Jefferson Street Project
Members of the Jefferson Street Chapter volunteered at PAWS Animal Shelter in Decatur
on November 15. They had a wonderful time socializing the dogs and playing with the kitties.
It’s important to remember the animals who don’t have a family! PAWS is a champion for
animals – rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife,
sheltering and adopting homeless cats and dogs, and
educating people to make a better world for all.
Sara Sullivan with playful kitties
Front row left to right: Terri Sapp, Steve Woerner,
Billie Jo Driggers, Sara Sullivan
Back row left to right: Kelly Marona, Scott Long,
Cathy den Boer, Kelly White, Thomas McCracken
Kelly White with Tegan,
a lab mix
Thomas McCracken, Kelly Marona, Steve Woerner and
Scott Long with pups
Terri Sapp with kitten
General Office Chapter
Decorates Manley House
for the Holidays!
On December 6 , members of the General Office Chapter
took their lunch hour to decorate the Mary Ann Manley
House located at Atlanta Medical Center. They were
Joined by Tonya Wilson, wife of Executive Vice President
Anthony Wilson. Past State President Angela Gillis was
the project chair.
Columbus
The Columbus Chapter hosted the annual Breakfast With
Santa on Saturday, December 8. There were around 50
kids and adults who came to partake in the morning’s
festivities. The participants began their morning with a
delicious pancake and sausage breakfast followed by an
assortment of games, arts and crafts. The kids also got
to meet and pose for pictures with Santa Claus. Special
thanks to Lynn Reckart, Greg Smith and a host of other
volunteers who made this event a success.
Some of Santa’s Helpers were front row: Mary Norris,
Angela Gillis, Leah Burch and back row: Tonya Wilson,
Zann Hayes, Jim Hodges, Danna Clary
Peggy Grubb
and
Angela Gillis
hang window
garland in
upstairs den
There isn’t anything we can’t accomplish together.
Did you know that …
Together the shingles make the roof.
Together the bricks make the
foundation.
Together the trees make the forest.
Together the tiny drops of water
make Niagara Falls.
Together we are
Citizens of Georgia Power …
Leah Burch places garland
on porch balcony
Tonya Wilson readies
door wreath for hanging
“Lighting Up Lives for Fifty Years”.
Wishing YOU a Merry Christmas and a Safe,
Happy New Year