HCWA Cares through Employee and Customer Charitable Assistance
If Christmas is the season of giving, the Henry County Water Authority (HCWA) is a utility filled with that spirit and dedicated to that sentiment. Through fundraisers and payroll deductions by employees, and with dollars raised by generous customers who participate in the utility’s Charitable Assistance Program (CAP), the Authority has been busy this holiday season – and throughout the year – aiding those in need.
For starters, the HCWA Administrative Professionals Committee (APC), which consists of administrative professionals from every department within the utility, organized a utility-wide holiday fundraiser this Christmas among fellow Authority employees, who gathered food, gifts, and necessities in support of local food pantries and senior citizens.
Through the efforts of the APC this year, Authority employees were able to collect food and necessities for the local Millie’s Mini Pantry and McDonough Community Pantry. HCWA employee donations also funded 140 gift baskets for the residents at Westbury Nursing Home in McDonough.
This past Thanksgiving, employees from the HCWA Engineering Department spent time at the Helping in His Name Food Pantry, sorting and organizing food for delivery to local families with food insecurities. These Authority employees packed the food items and essential care packages, while helping to distribute these boxes to people in the community who are in need.
However, the Authority’s acts of kindness don’t stop there and are not limited to just the holiday season. HCWA employees are involved in voluntary charitable activities throughout the year. For example, the “HCWA Cares” campaign is the Authority’s annual initiative to encourage payroll deductions and donations among employees, to aid local charities they choose to support each year.
This year, HCWA employees selected A Friend’s House, Haven House, Caring for a Cause, and Wings for Warriors as their charities of choice. In 2024, Authority employees will once again support A Friend’s House, Haven House, and Caring for a Cause, in addition to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Finally, the HCWA is completing the 10th year of its CAP, which invites customers to “round up” their monthly bill to raise money exclusively to help other customers with their monthly water/sewer bill payments.
During the 2023 calendar year, the generosity of these HCWA customers raised enough money to assist 32 households, or 92 people, with paying their monthly water/sewer bill. Connecting Henry, who is a community partner of the Authority, and the administrator of CAP funds, helps to direct these dollars to the water/sewer bill payments of eligible recipients throughout the year.
HCWA customers can enroll in the Charitable Assistance Program here. And for those HCWA customers in need of financial assistance, a list of the Authority’s administrative partners also is available here.
Captions for photos (top to bottom)
HCWA Administrative Professionals Committee members who helped organize the Authority’s holiday fundraiser prepare to distribute gift bags to the residents of Westbury Nursing Home in McDonough. Those employees include (left to right): Cathy Stevens, Lori Gardner, Vicki Mott, Wendy Johnson, Beverly Smith, Shelley Boggess, and Meredith McClendon.
HCWA Administrative Professionals Cathy Stevens (front), Shelley Boggess (back left) and Meredith McClendon (back right) deliver holiday gift bags to residents of Westbury Nursing Home in McDonough.
The HCWA’s Wendy Johnson (left) and Angie Cash (right) volunteer at the Helping in His Name Food Pantry during Thanksgiving to sort and organize food for delivery to local families with food insecurities.
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Media Contact: Chris Wood, Ph.D.
P: 770-757-1681
E: chris@jwapr.com or john.wood@gcsu.edu