Andrea:
Welcome to Live Wire, a podcast powered by Kosciusko REMC. We are a member owned and locally operated cooperative that supplies electricity to portions of Kosciusko, Fulton, Wabash, and Whitley Counties here in Northern Indiana. Live Wire is a program where we come together to discuss co-op matters, energy community topics, and to communicate with KREMC members. I'm your host, Andrea Melton.
Welcome back, folks. We've been on a bit of a break from the podcast as our team has been pretty busy attending conferences and, oh, taking vacation and that sort of thing. So we are excited to be back in the studio and to continue bringing you information and updates on our cooperative world. It's November, a month to reflect and be a little more intentionally thankful than we maybe normally are on a day-to-day basis. It's also a wonderful time of year to give back.
There are lots of ways people give back. And here at KREMC, we are very proud to provide some ways in which our members can give back. Today we're going to spend just a few minutes highlighting some of the ways we enable you, our members, to help our community. We're also going to chat with a few of our employees today. As we approached this season and I learned more about some of the programs we offer here at KREMC, this time of year, my coworkers began sharing some stories with me, stories of times when they have seen our members display generosity, compassion, and selflessness. With all the stress and plight in the world, it's always nice to take some time and reflect on the good, and we see that good in our membership regularly.
First up, if you are listening when this podcast is first published, you still have time to donate to the annual food drive. Every year, Kosciusko REMC supports an annual community food drive that puts Thanksgiving baskets together for local families. These baskets are packed full of everything a family needs to make a hearty and delicious Thanksgiving meal. So through Friday, November 10th, members of KREMC are encouraged to donate what they can to this food drive. Now we are collecting specific items in certain quantities for the ease of putting together the baskets. You can find that list of accepted items in the November issue of Indiana Connection. It should have arrived in your mailbox recently, but it's also available online. You can find that list of items for the food drive in our lobby as well, and also on our social media channels.
Let's move on to the HUG program. I was so excited to learn about this program every year. KREMC offers hugs for purchase. HUGs is an acronym standing for household utility gifts. It's pretty simple. A HUG is a gift certificate that you can purchase for another KREMC member and an amount that you desire, and it will be applied to the balance that member owes. When you purchase a HUG, It's good for a full year from the date of issue so that HUG can be used for winter heating or summer cooling, whatever is more helpful to the recipient. The struggle to keep up with utility and other bills is very, very real for many people. A HUG is a fantastic way to offer compassionate and practical help to someone this holiday season. Often our members come in to purchase a HUG for someone specific, someone in their lives, somebody they know could use some help. But many times our members give very generously to people they don't even know.
Now I have Stephanie Scott, our vice president of Member Service in the studio with me. Hi, Steph.

Stephanie:
Hi.

Andrea:
Steph, how long have you worked for KREMC?

Stephanie:
15 years.

Andrea:
That is very impressive and wonderful. I think we're probably pretty lucky to have you here. And I know that you have gotten to know a lot of our members very well, and you've seen a lot happen over the 15 years you've been here. And I was hoping you would share a story with me about a time when you have seen our members being generous or giving back to the community, whether it be through our HUG program or in a different way. Do you have a memory for me?

Stephanie:
Not one in particular because I haven't been up front in about 13 years. I started at the front counter as a cashier. So I don't have anything in particular where they have come in when I've been at the front counter. But I do remember in the last few years in particular where members would come in and I've heard the stories from others or happened to be walking by when we had members come in and just write us a check for, say, $500 and they say, "I don't know what accounts you need to put it on, just pick accounts to put this money on. I want to help someone in need, someone that's about to be disconnected or someone that has been disconnected that's trying to gather the funds to get reconnected."
And so a lot of times we'll take that up and divide it 10 ways and put $50 on 10 accounts. It just kind of depends on what our list looks like. If we've got disconnects for the day or we've got some prepaid accounts that are up for disconnect, we'll kind of divide it up among those accounts and see how it goes. So I think it's just been amazing to see that people are so generous and they don't even know who they're giving them money to and they don't care. And I think that's awesome. I think it's amazing because I think it's great that we have HUGs where you can come in and purchase a HUG for a family member or friend that's really struggling.
But we talk to people every single day that are going through a hard time, someone who's just fallen on hard times. They've been trying to keep up their bills, and then they've had been in a car accident or they've lost their job or their job's been eliminated, or they have a sick kid or they've caught an illness or something like that and they just don't know. They don't know what to do. So I think it's awfully generous that our members have done that.

Andrea:
Absolutely. I think it was Mr. Rogers who said when you look around at the world and there's always a lot of bad going on, but you always look for the helpers. And it sounds like a lot of our KREMC members are helpers, and they do so for no reason other than to just do it with no restrictions on that gift or that generosity. That's pretty cool.

Stephanie:
They are amazing.

Andrea:
Thank you for coming in, Steph.

Stephanie:
Thank you.

Andrea:
So here in the studio with me now I have Haley Donahue. Hi, Haley.

Haley:
Hi.

Andrea:
Haley is a customer engagement specialist, and so she kind of works more towards the back of our office space now. But Haley, I know not so long ago you were upfront and interacting with our members at the front desk on a regular basis, right?

Haley:
Yes. Yep.

Andrea:
And I know that you have seen demonstrations of generosity from our members in your time here. What kind of memory do you have of a time when you saw a member giving back to the community or being generous?

Haley:
Yeah. And it happens very often. We're blessed here in Kosciusko County with such a giving community, but it happens especially around the holidays. I can remember specifically a woman who came in to pay her own bill, and in addition to that, she gave us $200 to put on someone's account to keep them warm for the winter and keep that heat on through the holiday season. We have such a giving community. It really touched my heart throughout the year that I sat up front, just how willing people are to just lend a hand, even if it's money.

Andrea:
And with me now, I have Nichole Fifer, who is our member service supervisor. Hi, Nichole. How are you today?

Nichole:
I'm good.

Andrea:
And this is your first time in the studio, isn't it?

Nichole:
Yes, it is.

Andrea:
Oh, well, I'm happy to have you here, and I hope it's not your last time.

Nichole:
Thank you. Thank you.

Andrea:
So could you please share with me a story or some memories you might have of our members donating generously or helping out our community or other members?

Nichole:
Yes, I would absolutely love to. So it has been a few years since I have worked at the front desk and seen our members face to face. There are multiple members in our community that do need assistance or need help or just have situations that come upon them that they have not prepared for, and therefore those situations do seem to put them in a pickle. As the giving season starts to arrive, we have seen multiple people throughout the Kosciusko County who has come into the Kosciusko REMC building, wanting to give money to our members that are in need of help. But seeing the hearts that our people have in our Kosciusko County has been heartwarming to me as we see and help those people struggling that are not asking for help. So there's been either large amounts of money that are wanting or needing to be put onto the accounts that are struggling. There are so many situations that definitely take over our lives that we're not planning for.
So when we have these generous people that come in, it is extremely overwhelming and full of joy to see that there's people out there that are willing to help those people that are in need. The experience that I have is when those anonymous donors do come in and pay on those accounts is we get the privilege of contacting those people and informing them that an anonymous donor had put money onto their account and hearing the reactions of the crying, the joy, the relief that this has put on their lives is a huge, huge impact on us as Kosciusko REMC employees. It is great that we are able to find somebody or something to help assist them because you never know when it might happen to us.

Andrea:
That is the absolute truth. Wow, that is so moving. Nichole, thank you you so much for sharing. Joining me today, I have Molly Studebaker, who is a member service representative. And Molly, how long have you worked here at KREMC?

Molly:
I have been here two and a half years.

Andrea:
Okay. So that's a good amount of time. And I know we were talking the other day and you said you maybe had a memory or an example of a time where you witnessed our members acting generously at the holidays or just going out of their way to help someone. So what was it that came to mind for you?

Molly:
Yeah, so my first year that I worked here, the first winter, we had a dad and five kids come in, and each kid had $100 bill. And they had decided that they would each split their Christmas in half and donate $100 to families in need. And after-

Andrea:
Oh my goodness.

Molly:
Yes. And after speaking with them, they were not actually REMC members. They live on a different electricity line, but we had a local office and they wanted to help local people.

Andrea:
Oh my goodness. That is so wonderful.

Molly:
Yes. It was very touching that I think the ages ranged from 5 to 16.

Andrea:
Wow.

Molly:
Yeah. So even the little five-year-old wanted to help people in need.

Andrea:
That is a great story. What a unique way to demonstrate that for your kids and to lead them in that direction, to have them all come in together and do that together.

Molly:
Absolutely. Absolutely. It was very touching.

Andrea:
Wow. They will remember that forever.

Molly:
Yes.

Andrea:
And I bet you will too.

Molly:
Absolutely. Yes.

Andrea:
And now maybe some of our listeners will, because that's a great story. Thank you for sharing that with me.

Molly:
You're welcome. You're welcome.

Andrea:
Cool. I'd like to thank Molly, Steph, Haley, and Nichole for coming in to share some memories with me and just give some great examples of the generosity that we see in our valued membership. Remember, we are holding a food drive. If you'd like to donate, you can find that list on our social media platforms or in the Indiana Connection, and we're accepting those food items through Friday, November 10th. And consider gifting a HUG to someone in your life or maybe someone you don't even know. It's a wonderful way to give someone a much needed boost this time of year. During this month of thankfulness, please know that we are very thankful for you, our membership, and our listeners, and our extraordinary community. Until next time.
You've been listening to Live Wire, the official podcast of Kosciusko REMC. To learn more about KREMC, visit our website kremc.com and follow us on social media. Thanks for listening.