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6/7/2011
A newly hired employee once told us he wanted to be a lineman so he could help people. This young man, fresh out of lineman’s school, understood not only the value of his job in keeping the lights on for folks in his area, but the crucial task of restoring power quickly when disaster strikes.
The past several weeks certainly gave this young man and all our employees opportunities to help people, as thousands of Mississippians faced the mind-boggling task of recovery from the losses of life and property caused by powerful tornadoes in April and widespread flooding in May.
I’m proud to say electric power association employees (some of whom suffered losses themselves) are pitching in as usual to help their communities recover—and not only by restoring electric service.
An electric power association manager said many of his employees are devoting most of their time off to helping friends and neighbors with daily needs after the severe tornado outbreak in April. And not one of these employees complained, he added, about the long days they worked to rebuild power lines in the wake of the storm.
Some electric power associations have organized company-wide drives to collect items for disaster relief. One group of employees donated 41 bags of clothing, kitchen supplies, shoes, bottled water, bedding and other items to the American Red Cross for tornado victims.
Employees at another electric power association are collecting school supplies to donate to a school nearly destroyed in the storms that swept northeast Mississippi.
Other electric power association employees collected money, bought needed items and delivered them to Tuscaloosa. Some collected donations to send to Smithville, the northeast Mississippi community crushed by an EF-5 tornado.
Taking action to help is just how Mississippians respond to tragedy. The outpouring of donations after last year’s devastating tornado in Yazoo City reminded us how compassionate Mississippians are, and how donations can make a difference to the victims facing a long and painful recovery.
If you are looking for a way to help storm or flood victims, a good place to start is local churches, civic groups and nonprofit organizations. This being Mississippi, odds are that someone in your area is coordinating some kind of volunteer or donor response effort.
Gov. Haley Barbour announced in April the Mississippi Disaster Recovery Fund is accepting monetary donations. Anyone wanting to donate can do it through their Website, www.mississippirelief.com or by texting “MS” to 27722 to give $10 to the fund.
Donors may also choose to send a check to the Mississippi Disaster Recovery Fund, c/o BankPlus, 4450 Old Canton Road, Suite 101, Jackson, MS 39211, or donate at any BankPlus branch.
These options make it easy for us to help disaster victims, and donations of any amount will help—especially if we all pitch in.
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Our thoughts and prayers go out to the residents of Joplin, Mo., who suffered the loss of loved ones and property May 22 in an extraordinarily destructive tornado.
