As another summer vacation packed itself away, TECO team members packed a pickup flatbed full of backpacks and school supplies for young students in need. Then they drove to Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa, and like one plus one equals two, low-income children would have new tools for school.
Credit & Collections investigators Brandi Scott and Will Carrera coordinated the drive at TECO, where team members have a longstanding commitment to the community and to organizations like Metropolitan Ministries. In addition to being parents, both work with customers who find themselves in difficult financial situations.
“We see close-up what some of our customers are going through, and even though TECO offers great programs like Share for Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas, when the new school year rolls around, it brings with it a new round of expenses,” Scott said. “TECO team members see it as their responsibility, as members of the communities we serve, to try to help in any way that we can.”
For this drive, TECO team members donated book bags, binders, spiral notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons, markers, folders, glue sticks, hand sanitizer and loose-leaf paper – all things (and there are many others, including food, clothing and more) that Metropolitan Ministries will gladly accept as donations from you.
“For children who don’t have enough, we wanted to help them not just have basic supplies for the classroom – we also wanted to help them feel more confident with brand-new backpacks and other items,” Carrera said. “Secondhand backpacks and things like that are definitely worthwhile, but new things feel special to kids.”
As Carrera, Scott and Credit & Collections Coordinator Gerri Drummond arrived at Metropolitan Ministries on Aug. 9 – the day before school started in Hillsborough County – they were greeted by Karl Celestine, director of Outreach Services at the nonprofit agency.
“We were hoping and praying that we would hear from somebody by Wednesday [Aug. 10], and here you are!” Celestine said with a grin, summing up words that guide him and his organization: “If you get tired, get tired doing good things for people.”
With help from Donald Jorden and Darius Lue, both 17 and volunteering at Metropolitan Ministries, the group unloaded donated school supplies from the pickup in no time.
“This box too?” Jorden asked as he pulled out one of the remaining boxes that had already been partially emptied.
“Yeah, the one that’s half-full,” Scott said.
That’s the optimistic spirit – one that fuels TECO’s commitment to the community, Metropolitan Ministries daily and anyone who wants to help them in their mission to help children and families in need.
Special thanks to these and many other team members and groups at TECO who made this drive a success:
Credit and Collections
Cathy Pettway and the Accounting team
Sandra L. Clark and the Billing and Payments team
Kevin Roach and the Telecom team
Betty Sue Shane and the CRM Team
Amanda Chatarpaul
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