FirstEnergy Employees Honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday With Day of Service

“Not everybody can be famous, but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As our country honors the leader of the Civil Rights Movement (the day after what would have been his 94th birthday), FirstEnergy employees are volunteering as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service. From Ohio to New Jersey, from blood drives to book drives, employees are answering the lasting King quote, “Life’s most urgent question is what are you doing for others?” 

In Ohio, Toledo Edison is sponsoring events at Cherry Street Mission and Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank, where volunteers will sort food, stock shelves and help prepare and serve lunches. FirstEnergy’s Family Network, an employee business resource group (EBRG) for caregivers, will be at the Akron-Canton Foodbank. 

The Ohio chapter of MOSaic, FirstEnergy’s EBRG that serves as a resource to people of color and their allies, will host two service events. In addition to helping prepare food and sort supplies at Haven of Rest, the Ohio chapter of FirstEnergy’s MOSaic EBRG will be at Kid’s Book Bank, sorting and tagging books for distribution to kids building their own libraries. 

“Actively supporting and enriching our communities is part of our social responsibility,” said Jay Redd III of MOSaic Ohio’s Community Involvement Council. “We are proud to live and work in our communities, and to have the opportunity to give back through hands-on volunteer activities helps bring us closer to our neighbors and those in need.”

Books will also be the theme in Pennsylvania, where members of the southeastern Pennsylvania chapters of MOSaic and the Women in Leadership EBRG, a group of employees committed to developing current and future women leaders, will be reading to school children in Reading. The virtual program will be provided to kids in pre-K through fourth grades at 10th and Green Elementary School. Women in Leadership and the Helping Women Grow EBRG will also be holding a book drive to support the local community. In western Pennsylvania, the local Women in Leadership chapter is packing STEM kits for United Way.

Another book drive is being sponsored by the company’s West Virginia Women in Leadership and Helping Women Grow chapters to benefit patients and families at WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital, a 150-bed facility that opened in Morgantown in 2021.

For employees looking for other ways to help those who are ill, the New Jersey chapter of the Veterans and Allies EBRG is promoting blood donations through local American Red Cross locations. FirstEnergy’s Thrive EBRG, dedicated to mental wellness and employees with physical and mental disabilities, is promoting Be The Match®, which connects patients with a matching donor for life-saving blood stem cell transplants.  

No matter what state FirstEnergy employees live in, they can also donate to victims of human trafficking through an Amazon Wish List, organized by the Fairlawn (Ohio) chapter of Helping Women Grow.

FirstEnergy’s commitment to the core value of diversity and inclusion is unwavering. The company encourages employees to continue engaging in meaningful conversations about racial inequity and social injustice as well as use peaceful actions to enact positive change.

To learn more about FirstEnergy’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, visit www.firstenergycorp.com/diversity.