Black Hills Energy employees in Council Bluffs, Iowa, recently led a food drive that brought in more than 1,300 pounds of food for their food insecure neighbors.
Iowa Ambassadors organized the event, with food donations going to the Food Bank for the Heartland. Ambassadors are Black Hills Energy employees who opt to develop their leadership skills through community involvement.
A friendly competition made things more interesting. Employees at the Council Bluffs facility of Iowa Gas were split into three teams. They used a point system based on food items that are in high demand at the food pantry. Bonus points were awarded if certain food items came in as a set; for example, in the breakfast category, cereal was worth 3 points, pancake mix worth 2 points and canned fruit worth 2 points, but if the three items came in together they counted for 10 points.
Teams could either collect food items to donate or collect money to purchase food items for donation. The winning team blew away the competition with their smart buy: their strategy provided 976 food items worth 2,231 points!
Did you know 41 percent of food collected for the food insecure comes from corporate donations? In all, the Council Bluffs crew collected 1,392 items that weighed 1,362 pounds and will provide 1,135 meals to community members in need.
While competition is fun, the good we are able to accomplish together was the most important part of this project. Well done team!
We partner with our communities and customers, providing the kind of energy that fuels those areas and the lives of those we serve. Feel free to share the stories and photos. Make sure to tag us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Positive Energy
-
Members of our Fayetteville, Arkansas, team celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a “green” activity: picking up trash along Armstrong Avenue. Armstrong Avenue is the road that leads to our Fayetteville Operations Center. Those participating in the cleanup were all employees of Fayetteville operations… -
Through our partnership with local South Dakota schools, the LivingWise school-based education program helps students discover ways to use energy more efficiently while they learn about energy conservation and cost savings. By participating in the education program, students receive an efficiency… -
Employees of the Harrison, Arkansas, division recently pooled their resources to purchase an entire shopping cart of Easter candy for local foster children. This donation was given to The Call in Baxter County and placed in baskets to be distributed Easter morning to the foster children. The Call… -
Our Ozark division continued its tradition of supporting Arkansas Run for the Fallen, an annual event that honors Arkansas service members who have died while serving on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. Runners began the 155-mile run in Ozark, Arkansas, on March 17. Robert Irvin, a lead…