Honoring a Great Man Through Service
February 23, 2023
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day – a National Day of Service – was Monday, Jan. 16. In honor of the day and Dr. King’s legacy for investing in the community, FirstEnergy employees did their share of giving back to the communities we serve. Here are a few examples!
Employees in our West Penn Power service area joined the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March, cosponsored by Penn State and State College’s Dr. Martin Luther King Plaza Committee. After the march there was a short presentation and an outdoor ceremony at the plaza. The borough mayor and other officials provided comments followed by music and readings from community members.
L.-r.: Joleen Hindman, consultant, Regional External Affairs, and Christeen Moyer, Compliance & Industry Engagement, business analyst.
Employees from two FirstEnergy EBRGs (Employee Business Resource Group), MOSaic Southeast Pennsylvania and Women in Leadership Southeast Pennsylvania, virtually read to students at 10th and Green Elementary School in Reading.
Brandy Pesi, supervisor, Transmission Engineering Design (bottom right) read to a group of students.
Our MOSaic New Jersey Chapter EBRG hosted a special presentation from Dr. Yvon Joseph, associate professor, foreign language at Suffolk Community College in New York. Let Freedom Reign focused on the importance of diversity and inclusion through the lenses of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Toussaint Louverture, a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). The presentation highlighted the similarities between the two leaders who fought for freedom and social justice.
Toledo Edison employees volunteered at two nonprofit organizations for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day: the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank and Cherry Street Mission Ministries.
Food bank volunteers, l.-r.: Matt Tussing, Customer Account specialist IV; Taneaka Haley, manager, Operations; Meg Adams, consultant, Regional External Affairs; Justin Price, manager, Distribution Planning & Protection; Chad Tremaine, supervisor, Engineering Services; Tyler Woody, general manager, Distribution Vegetation Management Operations; Sara Keeler, distribution technician IIRegulatory; Amy Hosier (wife of Mike); and Mike Hosier, director, Operations.
Cherry Street Mission Ministries volunteers, l.-r.: Trina Myers, Customer Account specialist V; Ed Hardy, substation relay tester A; Cory Gase, supervisor, Regional Operations Line & Sub, West; Nelson Rodriguez, Estimating & Design representative senior; Christina Kolodziej, engineer IV; Brad Gillespie, manager, Customer Accounts; Jim Veglia, director, Operations; and Mike Juhasz, Estimating & Design representative junior. This group served food and assembled and filled bags with hygiene kits.
These Akron-area employees volunteered at the Kids Book Bank in Cleveland where they packaged more than 500 books.
L.-r.: Blake Eppler, supervisor, Claims; Kris Hawk, Human Resource representative V; Tina Largent, analyst IV; Samantha Szilagyi, Supply Chain analyst IV; Tamara Shuttleworth, advanced business analyst; George Njoku, SCADA design specialist II; Rhiannon Stevenson, manager, SC Strategic Category Management; Dia Madkins (guest); and Brandis Long, Ethics & Compliance specialist IV.
More Kids Book Bank volunteers!
L.-r.: Freida Luckett, data engineer IV; Jay Redd III, Liability Claims representative III; Deitra Taylor, advanced distribution instructor; Maggie Myers, manager, FEU Process Improvement; Emily Wert, data scientist IV; and Emery Gal, analyst IV.
This group of employees volunteered at the Haven of Rest Mission in Akron. They prepared lunch for more than 60 homeless and people in need.
L.-r.: Phil Schuchter, senior consulting engineer; Carol Parmer, administrative technician III; Aneese Sheffield, senior Customer Service associate; Eleanore Gould, senior Customer Service associate; Allen Hopson, advanced Customer Service associate; Joshua Shields, supervisor, Talent Acquisition (and his children); and Deitra Taylor.
L.-r.: Dave Conley, consultant, Regional External Affairs; Bill Dodd, engineer IV; Diana Todd, business technician II; Peggy Wood, executive assistant leadership; John Greer, Customer Accounting associate; and Susan Swift, engineer V, packaged food at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.
Our Cabin Hill employees created 250 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) kits for local students. The bags contained a STEM Kit to build a flashlight and the book Hidden Figures – the story of three African American women who were instrumental in astronaut John Glenn’s launch into space.
Srinivas Garlapati, application configuration analyst; John Gavio, manager, Distribution Systems Operations; Scott Shaffer, engineer V; Haroon Khalid, engineer III; Brandy Pesi; Kerrie Pelliccione, executive assistant; Diane Armstrong, senior business analyst; ReneeMenanno, supervisor, Operations Support; and Elise Druehl, engineer II.
Torey Tolson, consultant, Corporate Oversight & Community Involvement (l.) and LaJeana Gilliam-Dickson, Customer Account specialist II (r.) attended the Akron Urban League’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. FirstEnergy was a $10,000 table sponsor.