April 19, 2021

We did it! Even during the pandemic and our virtual environment, FirstEnergy employees fully supported our 2021 Harvest for Hunger campaign.

We raised $333,088 and collected 8,429 pounds of food resulting in 2,338,639 meals – surpassing our goal by nearly 17%.

“I’m always proud but not surprised by the generosity of our employees. Even with the challenges of the pandemic and the need to conduct our 2021 Harvest for Hunger Campaign virtually, we still were able to surpass our goal of 2 million meals,” said Lorna Wisham, vice president, Corporate Affairs and Community Involvement. “FirstEnergy’s support of the numerous foodbanks throughout our service territory will go a long way in helping to alleviate food insecurity that many are experiencing during the pandemic.”

Stepping Up to End Hunger

Our total of $333,088 includes $100,000 from the FirstEnergy Foundation for the Hawaiian Island Harvest for Hunger Healthy Living Challenge. In addition to earning Healthy Living rewards, employees taking part in this fun activity were able to raise funds toward the Harvest for Hunger campaign for steps achieved at four ch​allenge levels. The Foundation donated $25,000 to the Hawaiian Island challenge effort at each level earned by employees. These donations will be contributed to the largest food banks in each state in our service territory.

A Popping Success

Another new initiative for our 2021 campaign was the Pop-the-Trunk drive-thru food collection event held throughout our service area on April 1. To support the event, employees and their families, friends and neighbors filled up their vehicle trunks with nonperishable food items and dropped them off at a participating foodbank. The event yielded 6,791 pounds of food providing the equivalent of 5,659 meals.

“We had a great turnout for this first-time event, and we’re very pleased with the results,” said Torey Tolson, consultant, Corporate Oversight and Community Involvement. “Even with an unexpected snowfall in most areas, we had 26 volunteers show up at ten locations. It was a wonderful way to help drive out hunger in the communities we serve.”

Pop-the-Trunk volunteers at the Toledo Northwest Ohio Foodbank event (l.-r.): Chad Tremaine, supervisor, Engineering Services; AndreaDeBagio, credit representative; Tara Trinh, representative, Customer Operations Section; Liz Holland, supervisor, Regional Meter Reading; Tyler Leggett, coordinator, FEU Environmental Services; and Meg Adams, consultant, Regional External Affairs.

Laurie Peddicord, advanced legal specialist, EmT, Lit, Products; Cheryl Lennert, Distribution technician I-ROW, Engineering Services; and Kerrie Pelliccione, executive assistant, Energy Efficiency Implementation, are ready to unload a trunk full of groceries at the Cabin Hill location.

Lisa Taddei, consultant, Regional External Affairs, unpacking her trunk at the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley event in Youngstown, Ohio.

Unpacking food from the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Pop-the-Trunk event are, l.-r.: Claudia Shaw, Project Management specialist, Back Office Quality Management; Daniel Falls, communications field support technician III, IT-Network Operations; and Tim Washington, manager, Operations Skills Training, ED-Operations Skills Training.

Valerie Kurdewan, supervisor, Regional Meter Reading at the Fulfill Foodbank Ocean County location in Toms River, N.J.