Hundreds of BGE employees celebrated National Volunteer Month in April by volunteering close to 2,000 hours on 51 different arts and culture projects that encouraged community development, championed the environment, and supported education initiatives.
BGE’s Powering the Community program aims to help power a cleaner and brighter future for customers and communities through company-sponsored service events across central Maryland.
“We’re honored to continue the tradition of supporting neighbors and communities through volunteerism, not just for National Volunteer Month, but throughout every month of the year,” said Valencia McClure, vice president of governmental and external affairs for BGE. “While we set a record this year with the number of events BGE participated in, it should come as no surprise that our employees rolled up their sleeves and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with community organizations working to enhance the lives of our customers in a myriad of ways.”
Service highlights during the month include:
• Forty BGE volunteers joined Rodney Oddoye, BGE vice president of customer operations, at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore to build a goat castle and playscape for the goats to climb and romp on. Click here to watch the Zoo’s time lapse video from the event.
• Nearly 200 BGE employees and local partners took part in the American Red Cross Sound the Alarm event where they canvassed neighborhoods in Harford County to install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, and helped families create escape plans.
• Valencia McClure, BGE vice president of government and external affairs, and 22 BGE employees participated in the Susan G. Komen Letter Writing event in Baltimore, where volunteers wrote “Notes of Encouragement” to women and men going through breast cancer and survivors who reside within BGE’s service area.
• Members of BGE’s Demand Response Business and Behavioral Energy Efficiency teams worked with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to “hatch” oyster reef balls at the Maryland Oyster Restoration Center in Anne Arundel County. The team successfully “hatched” over 50 concrete reef balls by removing them from their molds, cleaning, and prepping them for eventual placement on an oyster sanctuary in the Chesapeake.
• BGE participated in the Hero Dogs clean-up day in Montgomery County. BGE volunteers joined veterans to help clean the training room and kennels of skilled companion dogs that will be placed with veterans and first-responders.
Employee service projects for National Volunteer Month extended across the Exelon family of energy companies.