My family always volunteered at our area Special Olympics. I joined my parents at the annual event as soon as I was old enough to help out, or at least not be in the way. I think I was about 10 years old. In rural Mississippi, I watched our community come together to hold a sporting event; we really just cared about each other and about bringing joy to other people. That’s important. I’m glad my parents made that contribution to my life. I think I enjoyed those days more than the athletes who took home gold medals. It started me on a path looking for ways to serve others.

At Jackson EMC we spend a lot of energy investing in the communities we serve because it’s important. Actually, its’s why we’re here. Jackson EMC was created to serve this community with electricity 79 years ago because it wasn’t here and we needed to come together to bring power to this area and with it, a better way of life.

We were created to serve, and we’ve been doing it ever since. “Involvement in our Communities,” is one of the values that guides our business decisions. While our service area is geographically diverse, stretching from the metro areas of Gwinnett County to the quiet farms of Madison County, the one thing that remains consistent is the care we have for one another and that’s why we serve. It’s important to us. And, it’s important to you; a strong community is important to everyone.

In this issue you’ll learn about some of the classrooms receiving support through our Bright Ideas grant program. That’s just one of many programs we have that support education. Each of our four local offices has partnerships with local schools to help out with field day, mentoring, electrical safety demonstrations, career days, science fairs and much more. For 48 years we’ve hosted an annual Quality Beef Show for young people. This summer, more of our young people will head to our Nation’s capital as Washington Youth Tour delegates, where they’ll meet other amazing students from across the U.S. and strengthen their leadership skills. We do these things because we care about each other and we want to serve.

My early involvement with volunteerism through Special Olympics and that feeling of community spirit opened my eyes to how fulfilling it can be to give back. It’s heartwarming to work at a place like Jackson EMC where so many of our employees feel the same way about being a deeper part of their community.

We strive to be servant leaders both inside this company and outside in the community we serve. Many of our employees decide to serve in civic clubs, on economic development authorities and on the boards of charitable organizations. We recently worked on a video project where I learned more about some of the servant work our employees are involved in. A great number of our employees serve as coaches and missionaries and mentors and volunteers for organizations making an impact in our community. I’m very proud of their community spirit.

Do we have an employee coaching your team or leading your civic group who deserves recognition? Send me an email [email protected].