IEA Hosts Holiday Food Drive
While the employees within the IEA family of companies have been able to continue work safely throughout the pandemic, others across the country have not been so fortunate. Many businesses have shut their doors or had mass layoffs and the economic impact to many across the country is felt deeply.
To help lighten that burden in the communities we serve, this past month, employees across the country were challenged to organize a food drive at each office and jobsite location to support families in need this holiday season.
Across the IEA family of companies, we were able to collect over 13,000 food, essential care items and toys for children worth thousands of dollars, in just three short weeks.
In a joint effort between the project owner and IEA Constructors, the wind project team in Minneola, Kansas raised $7,500 to purchase food, essential care items, and grocery gift cards to support a food pantry run by the Minneola Community Church.
At Ragnar Benson, a small but mighty team at the UPRR Settegast Intermodal Expansion project in northeast Houston donated over 450 items to the Heights Interfaith Ministries Food Pantry.
At IEA’s corporate office, nothing would stand in the way between the over 1,500 donated items and the Indianapolis, Ind., based Mid-North Food Pantry. Not even a broken service elevator. The donated items will go to support the 200-300 people and their families that rely on the food pantry each month.
“There has been a great need now,” said Matthew Jennings, who manages the Mid-North Food Pantry. Jennings, who has spent five years with the food pantry after retiring, feels a deep appreciation for large donations such as this. “It means a lot, especially during the bad situation we’re in. Food insecurities, schools are closed, people are out of jobs. The neighborhood depends on us.”
According to IEA Senior Counsel Scott Fisher, these donations demonstrate the commitment IEA has to supporting its local communities and making people’s lives a little better. “I think we’re very good at building wind farms, but we also need to be good corporate stewards and stewards to the community as well,” he said.
In addition to the items donated by employees, IEA donated $12,000 to local food banks near corporate offices and jobsite locations across the country. In the words of IEA’s Chief Operations Officer Mike Stoecker, "Our team’s efforts with this competition will truly make a difference in the communities where we live and work. While a can or box of food may seem small, the impact that it will have to feed a family this holiday season is life changing. I could not be prouder to be a part of an organization that is constantly thinking of others.”
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