One year ago, Stacy Agler, a customer service account representative in Lima, made a prediction: the community’s winter donation drive — with more planning, fewer COVID-19 restrictions and more employees back in the office — would be even bigger than years past.
She was right.
Employees at AEP Ohio’s six service centers in northwest Ohio — Bucyrus, Findlay, Kenton, Lima, Tiffin and Van Wert — collected more than 200 pounds of clothes and goods to donate to local charitable organizations. This year, Stacy called each charity in advance to determine their wants and ensure employees didn’t collect unnecessary items. Requests ran the gamut: personal hygiene products, laundry detergent, gas cards, pajamas, coats, hats, gloves and food donations. Each garage selected its own organization to help:
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Bucyrus employees Van Wert: Salvation Army
- Findlay: Hope House
- Tiffin: Salvation Army
- Kenton: Helping Hands Outreach
- Bucyrus: Open Door
- Lima: Salvation Army
Findlay (at 2.4 pounds of goods per employee) and Van Wert (2 pounds per employee) were declared the “winning” teams.
“Each garage really wanted to give back. We received so many items. There was a lot of everything,” Stacy said. “The donations were very well received by the charities. It shows that AEP Ohio isn’t just an electric company — we’re eager to give back to the communities we serve.”
