HUD, TVA pay it forward
CHECK FOR HELPING HAND – Last week, staff from Humboldt Utilities and from TVA volunteered at Helping Hand in Humboldt to assist with preparing food and straightening up the thrift store. Celebrating Public Power Week TVA donated $2,000 to Helping Hand. Among those at the check presentation are (from left) TVA’s Mike Montgomery, Humboldt Utilities’ Jason Brown and General Manager Alex Smith, Helping Hand Director Emma Lindsey, Humboldt Utilities’ Jose Silva and Kelly Fields, and TVA’s LaTonya Sneed and Lynn Dabney.
Humboldt Utilities and TVA teamed up last Thursday to pay it forward for a local charity during Public Power Week. Staffs from both volunteered at Helping Hand to help feed those in the community.
To celebrate Public Power Week, TVA made a $2,000 donation to Humboldt Helping Hand.
Humboldt Utilities General Manager Alex Smith said Public Power Week is always the first week of October. He said TVA and Humboldt Utilities each provided approximately 10 volunteers to help unload food, prepare lunch and straighten up the thrift store. They also made food boxes for people to take home.
Smith said TVA and Humboldt Utilities were both created to fulfill a need to the community to provide homes, businesses and industry with electricity. Public Power Week is a way to show that commitment by providing power at the cheapest rates to the people.
Humboldt Utilities has a program called Roundup Plus, which started 15 years ago. Utility customers can volunteer to sign up for the program and have their utility bill rounded up to the next dollar. Those additional cents are put into an account and given to Helping Hand each month, Smith noted.
“This is our customers’ money,” Smith said, “not the utility company’s.”
Humboldt is fortunate to have charitable organizations like Helping Hand, Smith said. Having TVA and Humboldt Utilities partnering together to assist, shows a commitment to helping those in need.
