May 4, 2021

​Whether its preparing items for foodbank distribution or assisting with an annual holiday lights display, FirstEnergy employees are willing to help in the community whenever needed.

Employees in Outage Management recently volunteered at the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank. In a pandemic-safe environment, the team assembled enough boxes to provide 6,000 meals for families in need.

​L.-r.: Cindy Anderson, (Jim’s wife); Mowliid Abdulle, engineer II; Jim Anderson, engineer IV; Shannon Quade, manager, Outage Management Systems; Jon Stoddard, engineer II; Lisa Rouse, director, Outage Management; John Daugherty, manager, Distribution Control Center Support; Frank Monteleone, staff business analyst; and Tim Markulin, senior Outage Management specialist.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Dan Laughlin (c.) and Jon DeMarco, executive director, Presque Isle Partnership (r.), presented Nick Austin, regional president, Penelec, with artwork to commemorate the company’s support of the inaugural Presque Isle Lights holiday light show. The show featured nearly 30,000 LED lights arranged to create various displays throughout Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pa. Penelec employees contributed significantly to the show, with engineers evaluating electrical infrastructure at the park, working with contractors to add outlets and other temporary equipment, and line crews and employee volunteers helping to put up displays along a 13-mile loop of the park. Penelec and the FirstEnergy Foundation provided about $10,000 in funding and in-kind donations. Photographer Paul E. Gibbons’ artwork captures the park’s Admiral Perry monument while lit up during the show. Presque Isle Lights, which ran from December into early January, was free to the public and designed as a drive-through, COVID-19-safe holiday event.