Line Superintendent Alan Pitts paid forward $500 to a co-op member who not only lost power during Hurricane Helene, but who also lost his wife.
“Our staking supervisor Kenny, like everyone else at the co-op, was working on power restoration efforts after the hurricane. He spoke to me about one gentleman, Mr. Clark, whose home was without power after 13 days. This member’s wife had also passed away about the same time the storm hit, and he was more or less trapped inside his home by trees and debris,” said Alan.
“Kenny felt so bad that we couldn’t restore this man’s power the first evening he met him, but there was more work to be done before we could get the lights back on for him.”
Kenny and the line crews did return the next morning and cut away trees and restored power, and it happened to be Mr. Clark’s birthday as well. He told crews that was the best birthday present he could ask for.
Stories like this repeated themselves over and over during the historic storm and recovery effort.
Nearly 63,000 co-op members were without power following the storm, some for as long as two weeks. Laurens Electric personnel and mutual aid crews from 17 other states worked tirelessly to rebuild the co-op’s distribution network and restore power.
However, the long, arduous process took a toll not only on members, but those who were tasked with repairing the damage.
Alan said, “Our first priority is getting the power back on after a storm, but we’ve never experienced anything like Hurricane Helene in our area, and it hurt us all seeing the hardship our members, our communities, were going through.”
“When my name was drawn to pay it forward this month, I knew I wanted to help someone who was impacted by the storm, and this gentleman was at the top of my mind.”
The Pay It Forward program began in 2015.
Every Laurens Electric Cooperative employee is entered into a random drawing to receive $500 to pay forward in any way they choose. Each month a new name is drawn, and the employee then has one month to apply the funds toward their own act of kindness.
This initiative is budget-neutral; the funds will come from Laurens Electric’s charity events, which employee volunteers make possible.
Employees and the community will enable individual employees to help individuals in the community, and that’s a win-win situation.
