Commitment to community is more than a corporate value at Team Midwest; it’s a way of life for the family of employees.
In January, employees presented checks of $5,347.20 each to Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Wounded Warrior Project through the Midwest Employees Give Back (MEGB) Program. An additional $7,900 was donated over the course of 2015 to organizations and individuals through employee-sponsored grant applications. These aren’t funds that come out of the Midwest expense budget, but dollars committed by employees for the express purpose of giving back.
MEGB was launched by Midwest employees in 2010 as a way to give back. It’s a charitable giving fund operated, governed and voluntarily funded by the employees of Team Midwest. Two-thirds of the annual funds collected are donated to select beneficiary partners as determined by the employee base, and the remaining funds are reserved for distribution to local organizations and efforts as requested by members of the employee family and approved by the Employee Involvement Committee.
“Our employee family does amazing things in the course of each day to provide exceptional service experiences for our members and customers, but this employee-initiated effort to donate their own hard-earned dollars to support community is commitment above-and-beyond. I couldn’t be more proud to be involved with this employee family,” says Bob Hance, President/CEO.
Since 2010, employees have donated more than $88,000 to the fund. Beneficiary partners have included American Cancer Society, Make-A-Wish Michigan, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Wounded Warrior, Hospice, and Ronald McDonald Charities.
Midwest Energy Cooperative is a member-owned electric utility providing electric distribution and an assortment of energy- and telecommunications-related programs and services to more than 35,000 customers in 11 counties in southern Michigan and northern Indiana and Ohio.
Caption: Gaby Hall (right), Midwest Energy Cooperative accounting rep and member of the Employee Involvement Committee, recently presented a check to Becky Summers, President/CEO of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Michiana. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Michiana and Ann Arbor were among the beneficiary partners of the 2015 Midwest Employees Give Back fund.