Power of Good

was one of the most scenic areas of the state. Originally, the Little River Power Company owned the land, but soon after James Mitch- ell began his consolidation of mostly inac- tive power sites, Little River was folded into his holding com- pany, Alabama Traction, Light & Power. In 1917, when Alabama Power acquired the property from Alabama Trac- tion, the flume and generation plant had not been used for decades. In the 1980s, Alabama Power had no intention of damming the river and flooding the canyon. Harris refused to give the property to the govern- ment, but negotiated a deal with Bevill for the U.S. government to pay what the property was worth, and the company would place every penny of that money – $7,641,750 – in the Alabama Power Foun- dation to improve educa- tion and communities in the state. This infusion of capital soon made the Alabama Power Founda- tion the largest nonprofit, charitable foundation in Alabama. Research indicated that educational improvement was the most significant way to make communities stronger. The foundation judges evaluate grants by the long-range goals, cost effective- ness, educational values, as well as an orientation to people (not bricks and mortar) and a commitment to partner with other nonprofit groups and com- munity resourc- es. The Alabama Power Founda- tion encourages arts and cultural programs as part of its commit- ment to educa- tion and health, and it favors human service projects to improve the quality of life within the com- munity. Bill Johnson, who led the Alabama Power Foun- dation for a decade, noted that small dollars make a huge difference in poor, rural communities. He also pointed out that Alabama Power employees had always provided a large number of "boots on the ground" in the communities where they lived and worked. The creation of the Alabama Power Service Organization had given employees an entity to provide leadership for this work, but small towns and communities had very few sources of funding to complete some of the projects envisioned. Now, the Alabama Power Founda- tion is able to give local nonprofits the opportunity to apply for grants from the foundation. "Our responsibilities as a com- pany don't end with keeping the lights on, or getting them back on when the power goes off," said Leigh Davis Perry, who was president of the foundation from 2010 to 2012. "It is in our corporate DNA, set out by our founder, to be of service to Alabama. The foundation is one of the main ways we do that." Over the quarter-century of its 4 one firm rule was that all the money donated by the company to the Alabama Power Foundation would come from the shareholders' portion of Alabama Power's profits, and not one penny from ratepayers would find its way into the foundation. A child visits McWane Science Center in Birmingham.

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