POWERGRAMS

25 Days for 25 Years Timing is everything. For the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, a gift of more than 3,500 pounds of food from Alabama Power employees came at a crucial period: six weeks before Thanksgiving. "We were pretty pumped," said Brooke McKinley, Development and Community Engagement coordinator for the food bank. "It's just huge – it's a huge food drive." The fruits of the 10th annual Let's Can Hunger drive by the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) were so immense that food bank trucks extended pickup because they couldn't deliver it all in one day, McKinley said. The Magic City APSO drive kicked off APSO's statewide "25 Days of Service" campaign, commemorating the Alabama Power Foundation's 25th anniversary. Alabama Power Chairman, President and CEO Mark Crosswhite said it's fitting that volunteers from the Alabama Power family are celebrating the foundation through 25 special service projects. "Serving our communities is what the foundation is all about," Crosswhite said. In October, APSO members began a targeted campaign to aid communities in the company's six divisions by helping with volunteer projects in each area, said Tan Grayson, communications specialist and longtime APSO member. She said every APSO chapter has held a food drive this year. "Our entire emphasis in APSO is about working to serve our communities," said Grayson. "We wanted to show our thanks and support of our foundation's mission by performing 25 special projects in Alabama Power's service territory in October. Each of our 10 chapters led a project targeted to the needs of its community." Magic City APSO President Lisa Spears led Let's Can Hunger. Spears and other volunteers set up food barrels at Corporate Headquarters, company business offices, the General Services Complex at Varnons, SouthernLINC and Southern Nuclear's Inverness headquarters. They collected nonperishables such as canned vegetables, tuna and chicken, peanut butter and jelly, boxed food such as cereals, pasta, grits and easy-to-cook meals, and dried beans and rice. McKinley said the food bank refers clients for donations through United Way agencies. "When someone's in need, we find a way to help them," she said. Created in October 1989 with a donation by Alabama Power shareholders, the Alabama Power Foundation has invested $150 million to support Alabama communities and nonprofits, with a focus on improving education, health and human services, arts and culture, the environment and Alabamians' quality of life. The foundation supports more than 700 community organizations annually. Among the 25 service projects, Mobile Division Area Manager Sam Covert helped build a playground in partnership with the Humana Foundation. Covert was at the Boys and Girls Clubs' Kiwanis branch on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 6 a.m., serving as a team leader. "We built a fabulous, multigenerational playground," said Covert, board member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Alabama. "Volunteers come together to build a KaBOOM playground in about six hours. My team constructed two planter buckets and two standalone planters. It was neat to see everything come together." By Donna Cope POWER TO ALABAMA 3 Shantavia McCurdy, Viki Pate, Shandeon Logan-Buie and Spears loaded employee donation bags into Let's Can Hunger barrel. A P S O S A L U T ES A P C F O U N DAT I O N A N N I V E R S A RY 25 DAYS OF SERVICE • American Red Cross in Mobile • Birmingham Botanical Gardens • Central Alabama Community Food Bank • Child Advocacy Center Fostering Love care kits for foster children • Children's of Alabama Playtime Extravaganza • Elmore County Humane Society • Habitat for Humanity • Harvest Festival in Dothan • Interfaith Ministries, helping with Meals on Wheels in Calhoun County • KaBOOM playground build for the Kiwanis Branch of the Boys and Girls Clubs, Mobile • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (Alabama/ Gulf Coast) • LifeSouth blood drive in south central Alabama • Make-A-Wish Foundation • Mission of Hope in Mobile • National Down Syndrome Society, Dothan and Mobile areas • Oak Hill School in Tuscaloosa • Presbyterian Children's Home in Talladega • Renew Our Rivers cleanups across the state • Ronald McDonald House volunteerism at several Alabama locations • Safe-T-Opolis electrical safety programs presented in many communities • Salvation Army Adopt-A-Child program • St. Mary's Home birthday parties for youngsters • Support Our Troops care packages for soldiers, sent by Southeast APSO members • Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure walk/run support and fundraising • Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida supported by Southeast APSO. Photo by Christopher Jones

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