December 7, 2018

The FirstEnergy Foundation has a program to support employees volunteering at community events, so with that in mind the Davis-Besse chapter of Women in Nuclear (DBWIN) requested support for Pathway Inclusion Center in Port Clinton, Ohio. Pathway was the charitable partner of the Davis-Besse Car Show/Community Day where more than 100 employees volunteered their time and talents this past September.

More than $5,200 was raised for Pathway at the car show and the FE Foundation topped it off with a $2,000 contribution to recognize the employee efforts. The Foundation check was presented to Stacy Borgio, Pathway vice president and co-founder, at the nuclear plant’s All-Hands Meeting this week.

Pathway was started by Stacy and another mom who have children on the Autism spectrum. She had been taking her son to a school more than 30 miles away that could support him. Now, his needs and those of other children are being met locally by Pathway. It is a one-stop-shop for child care, after-school programs, and therapy services for children with special needs.

“I just can’t express enough gratitude for what you have done to help us out and to help the families in our area to support their children,” Stacy told Davis-Besse employees. She said donations like this help keep the cost to families as low as possible. The center has been open as an inclusive day care since September. “We help all children,” she explained. “Typical children can learn from the children with special needs and vice versa,” she said. The arrangement also allows siblings to be together while their parents are at work.

Feedback and support from the community have been very positive and Stacy says the center will debut a summer program in 2019.

Pathway Inclusion Center Co-Founder Stacy Borgio shows Davis-Besse employees a thank you card with the hand prints of the children served by the center while accepting a donation from the FirstEnergy Foundation.