POWERGRAMS

29 APSO A hot meal works wonders for body and soul. So says Latoya Zackery, who recalls watching her grandmother receive hot lunches from Meals on Wheels in Anniston. Zachery said the person who delivered the healthy meal always took a moment to smile and offer a little conversation. "My grandmother was bedridden her last years of life," said Zackery, 2017 project chairwoman for the Eastern Division Chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO). "She had a stroke, and it got to where she couldn't get up and go to the senior center for meals. Later on, she was bedridden, and Meals on Wheels brought her lunch Mondays through Fridays." Zackery's grandmother died three years ago, but the memory about how many people went out of their way to deliver much- needed sustenance to her family member spurred Zackery's volunteerism with Meals on Wheels through APSO. "It adds a happy moment to people's day," said Zackery, a customer service representative at the Anniston Office. "You build relationships, too. Just seeing the happiness that spreads across their faces makes me glad to be able to do this." MEAL DELIVERIES A 'WELL- GREASED WHEEL' Eastern APSO President Keisha Chapman plans the delivery schedules for volunteers like Zackery, making sure meals are on time. APSO members pick up the food from Stringfellow Memorial Hospital in Anniston and deliver to adult care facilities. "I plan whoever is going, and if they can't go, I'm the fill-in," Chapman said, with a laugh. "There are five or six stops. We may carry in five plates on one stop." Zackery and Marketing Administrative Assistant Kim Screws share a route. "All of our deliveries are for elderly people," said Chapman, senior customer service representative - Anniston Office. "We set up the food on the table for each person and get the trays back to the hospital." "Just to be able to give back to the community makes me feel really good," Chapman said. "We, as Alabama Power, aren't just an electric company. We really care." HELPING BIRMINGHAM ELDERLY AND SHUT-IN RESIDENTS "From day one at Alabama Power," Jimy George said, "I've been involved with APSO." George has supported Meals on Wheels since starting his engineering career in the Western Division Happy House Calls BY DONNA COPE VOLUNTEERS BRING MEALS TO ELDERLY, SHUT-INS STATEWIDE George gets hot meal out of vehicle for delivery with fellow volunteer Iris Ramey. PHOTOS BY CHUCK ST. JOHN

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