POWERGRAMS

10 when they got hungry; they were just alone. This saddened me immensely. I couldn't imagine being alone at a time like this." Then, McElroy saw a nurse walk up with a snack basket, talking to each person. "Their faces lit up, they were hungry and very appreciative of a snack or two," she said. "When the basket made its way to me, I reached in and grabbed a pack of crackers." McElroy noticed a sticker on the package that showed that the snack was donated by a church. "A light immediately went off in my head: APSO!" she exclaimed. At the next Southern APSO board meeting, McElroy presented the snack-donation project for the Montgomery and Prattville Cancer centers. "We rallied around Hailey's idea," said Selma Office Supervisor Latonia Tisdale, 2016 president of Southern Division APSO. "Things that we think are so small mean the world to someone else. We decided to provide snacks for patients for one year. We've set up the project in each office, asking employees at each area for donations." Montgomery Field Service Representative and APSO member Wendell Saxon went a step further, requesting a donation from a Wetumpka CVS pharmacy, which provided 10 cases of bottled water. "If a merchant or store wants to donate, that's even better," Tisdale said. "We're providing water, ginger ale, animal crackers and peanut butter crackers. Everybody's excited about it." The Tallassee, Auburn, Clanton, Greenville and Fort Deposit subchapters all wanted to join the cause. For the remainder of the year, the offices will collect goods and deliver them to the cancer centers. "We touch so many lives by simply donating snacks and water," McElroy said. "Supporting people in their time of need is what APSO is all about: serving our community." YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND Such was the case with Southeast Division APSO's Backpack Buddies project, begun in 2014 by Katrina Haynes, substations engineer in the Eufaula Office, and Leslie Cox, an Accounting training instructor at the Southeast Division Office. The project got its start, Cox said, when a friend at Eufaula Primary School called for assistance. Haynes asked E.C. Gaston APSO President Jodi Webb for advice: Gaston already provided weekend meals for more than 100 children in the Walker County Public School System. Modeling their project after that chapter's efforts, Southeast APSO members began providing weekend meals for 10 youngsters at Eufaula Primary. Cox, whose 6-year-old attends the school, said the project has enabled members to develop a good relationship with administrators. "Since we started, we're now including Ashford Elementary, Beulah Elementary, Windham Elementary and the Enterprise school systems," Cox said. "We buy the food, package it and deliver it to the schools every Thursday during the school year." School guidance counselors discreetly place the weekend food into the children's backpacks during PE, so classmates aren't aware of others' home situations. "This project has made a huge impact in our division on the students as well as the APSO volunteers," Cox said. "The schools are so appreciative of what we are doing, and they say the kids look forward to getting their backpack each week. "It's so rewarding to know you're helping these children. It makes your heart smile." Southeast Division APSO members fill backpacks all year for needy kids. Macaroni and cheese is part of the weekend backpack. Photo by Christopher Jones Photo by Christopher Jones

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