Day of Service impacts state

Nashville, TENN. – More than 750 electric co-op employees participated in the sixth annual Tennessee Electric Cooperative Day of Service on Thursday, Oct. 20. Forty-six individual service projects were completed across the state with 757 employees from 17 electric co-ops volunteering more than 1,581 hours in service to their local communities. This year’s projects included painting and repairing playground equipment, picking up litter and coordinating food, clothing and toy drives.

“This is one of my favorite days of the year,” says Trent Scott, TECA’s vice president of communications and organizer of the event. “Co-ops have an impact on their communities each day, but today is special. Co-op employees live, work and raise their families in these communities, and they get excited about these projects. Giving back is natural when you care about the place you call home.”

Sponsors for the 2022 Day of Service were Bass, Berry and Sims, Central Service Association, Ervin Cable Construction, Silicon Ranch, Tennessee811, TVA and The Tennessee Magazine.

In the six-year history of the Day of Service event, 2,705 employees have volunteered more than 6,520 hours to complete 153 individual projects in co-op communities across the state.

Co-ops participating in the 2022 Day of Service and the projects they completed were:

• Appalachian Electric Cooperative – Support for coat and food drives in Jefferson County
• Caney Fork Electric Cooperative – Coordinated Christmas toy drive for area children
• Chickasaw Electric Cooperative – Hot line safety demonstration at a festival, supporting food and toy drive for Fayette Cares
• Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation – Painted playground equipment for local schools
• Fayetteville Public Utilities – Assisted Hands of Mercy Outreach’s mobile food pantry
• Gibson Electric Membership Corporation – Provided classroom supplies for Samburg and Hornbeak areas of Obion County
• Holston Electric Cooperative – Restoration work at Crockett Springs Park
• Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooeprative – Multiple litter pick up projects in Hickman and Humphreys counties, food bank projects in Hickman and Lewis counties. Additional projects in Perry and Houston counties.
• Middle Tennessee Electric – Habitat for Humanity build in Lebanon, Scholastic Book Fairs in Woodbury and Christiana, Discovery Center’s Lantern Parade in Murfreesboro
• Pickwick Electric Cooperative – Assisted the Jesus Cares Thrift Store
• Plateau Electric Cooperative – Volunteer work in Scott and Morgan counties
• Powell Valley Electric Co-op – Lunch for first responders in New Tazewell and Jonesville
• Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative – Provided meals for veterans, assisted with renovation of a senior center’s garden, building beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace and work with local animal shelter
• Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation – Support for Breast Cancer Awareness Day
• Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association – Volunteering at local domestic violence shelter and The Store free community grocery
• Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation – Beautification project in Livingston, lunch for front line workers and boxing and landscaping at a food bank
• Volunteer Energy Cooperative – Donations to food banks in Spring City, Decatur, Georgetown, Benton, Cleveland, Crossville and White County