TVA Employees Give Locally for the Holidays

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tennessee Valley Authority employees are providing food, gifts and other donations to children and families in need across the TVA service area this holiday season.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100304/TVALOGO)

Contributions have come from across the TVA system, from fossil, nuclear and hydro power plants and TVA's Environment and Technology organization. Families and schools in TVA communities are the beneficiaries.

Kingston Fossil Plant employees gave food boxes to 24 families of children at Dyllis Elementary School in Harriman, Tenn. The staff at Bull Run Fossil Plant provided gifts for 32 children at Claxton Elementary School in Powell, Tenn., and delivered food baskets to 25 families.

Employees at Cumberland Fossil Plant worked with the Stewart County, Tenn., Toys for Tots program to buy gifts specifically for children aged 14-17. "These kids aren't normally what you imagine when you think of donating toys for kids, but they need to feel appreciated all the same," said Kenneth Mullinax, Cumberland Plant manager.

Workers at Johnsonville Fossil Plant purchased more than 300 gifts, including food, toys and clothing for 29 families living near the plant. Allen Fossil Plant employees adopted a family in need and provided toys, clothing and other items.

"Our employees are part of the community and they want to make a difference, not just during the holidays, but all year long," said Robert Fisher, TVA senior vice president of Fossil Generation.

Sequoyah Nuclear Plant workers held a holiday party at Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., Head Start, providing toys and holiday photos for each child. They also supplied more than 70 families with presents, food and other household items.

"It really gets us all in the holiday spirit to see how happy and excited these kids are," said Gay Henson, who chairs the plant's Spirit Fund team that arranged the donations.

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant's Community Services Group helped provide 264 holiday baskets to local families and more than $40,000 in donations to organizations assisting families and children.

Brown's Ferry Nuclear Plant employees provided gifts for 180 children and food boxes to about 100 families.

TVA Nuclear employees also sponsored an angel tree for the Children's Home/Chambliss Shelter in Chattanooga, Tenn., listing needed items such as books, puzzles and games.

"Having these items at the Chambliss classroom provides many of these children with toys and educational tools that they would not have at home," organizer Linda Tonya said.

Holiday gifts from TVA hydropower generation staff include donations by the Chickamauga plant to the Chattanooga Food Bank in Chattanooga, Tenn.; gifts from the Hiwassee plant employees for children at the Hulbert-Johnson House Homeless Shelter in Murphy, N.C.; $1,500 in gifts for needy families from the Ocoee plant; about $700 each from the Guntersville and Wheeler plants for gifts for local children, and about $2,300 in gifts for children at Jasper, Tenn., Middle School from TVA's Raccoon Mountain Pump Storage facility.

TVA's Environment and Technology organization provided more than $400 in gifts and food for a Loudon County, Tenn., family; worked with Washington County, Tenn., Children's Services to sponsor a family in Johnson City, Tenn.; bought angel tree gifts for the Children's Home/Chambliss Shelter in Chattanooga, and collected $750 through the Sharing Christmas Committee at TVA's Muscle Shoals, site for gifts and household items for a Colbert County, Ala., family.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S. government, provides electricity for 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states at prices below the national average. TVA, which receives no taxpayer money and makes no profits, also provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists utilities and state and local governments with economic development.

(Note: Digital photos of various donations are available with the online version of this story at www.tva.com/news.)

SOURCE Tennessee Valley Authority