What’s good for the community, is good for our cooperative. That’s because we’re part of your community. We were built by the community, and we’re made up of employees that live and work in the community. Their children go to school with your children. They coach sports teams, attend church activities and serve on school committees. They are members just like you, and like you, they want to make their hometowns stronger.

Although providing reliable electric service is the core of our business, we know our communities have other needs too. Each year we challenge our employees to donate at least 8 hours of their time, outside of working hours, to volunteer in the communities we serve. They exceeded our goal this year and donated more than 325 hours of service to some great organizations!

One of the community commitments our employees have made is to TXDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway program. Through this program, SPEC employees have adopted a 2-mile stretch along U.S. Hwy 181 near Rob and Bessie Welder Park, just outside of Sinton.

Through this community service initiative, our employees have committed to picking up litter in this 2-mile area at least four times per year, for two years.

So far, our employees have completed two trash pick-ups. The first was in July, when 13 employees gathered enough garbage to fill 24 trash bags. The most recent volunteer pickup was at the end of September. During this volunteer event, nine employees filled 15 bags with garbage that had been discarded along the road.

In addition to our Adopt-A-Highway participation, employees have invested their time helping local food banks. In March, a group of SPEC employees spent a Saturday morning at the Coastal Bend Food Bank’s warehouse. In just four hours, the group packed more than 1,400 bags of food for the Kids’ Backpack Program. These bags are distributed to area children that have been identified as food insecure by school counselors, nurses or teachers.

Employees also lent a hand at a couple of mobile food distribution events in Beeville. These employees helped unload trucks from the Coastal Bend Food Bank and distributed food to families seeking assistance. Additionally, a number of employees volunteered their time at the Sinton Food Pantry.

Along with these projects, we had employees volunteer their time at school supply drives, New Beginnings Clothing Closet, Bee County Epilepsy Awareness Day and a community garden in Beeville.

Concern for Community is one of the founding principles of our cooperative. We’re proud of our employees for embracing and exemplifying our commitment to the communities we serve.