LG&E and KU employees pledge dollars to community assistance programs across the Commonwealth
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) – Area nonprofits need community support to get by in any year, but during the ongoing pandemic that support is critical to sustaining assistance agencies and ensuring they are able to continue providing the much-needed help their clients depend on. Employees of Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company are pledging dollars to nonprofit agencies and organizations across the utilities’ service territories. Coupled with financial support from the LG&E and KU Foundation, the utilities’ voluntary employee-giving campaign, Power of One, raised a record-breaking amount of more than $2.2 million in contributions.
The contributions are being allocated to 27 nonprofit organizations to support their funded programs and services in 2021. Those nonprofits serve nearly all 120 counties across Kentucky, more than 50 counties in Indiana, as well as parts of Virginia.
Louisville-based nonprofit organizations Fund for the Arts, Metro United Way and WHAS Crusade for Children — as well as United Ways across the KU service territory from Paducah, Ky. to Abingdon, Va. — will receive funding through the Power of One.
“This year’s simple campaign theme, Our Community Needs Us, spoke to the challenges facing our community and the agencies serving them, and our employees answered the call,” said LG&E and KU Chief Financial Officer, and co-chair of the 2020 Power of One campaign, Kent Blake. “Even as they faced their own challenges, our employees dug deeper to help fund rebuilding a more equitable community where all kids can receive a quality education, all adults can work in an inclusive environment and all basic needs can be met.”
Nearly 70% of LG&E and KU employees participate in the campaign through payroll deduction — a participation rate more than twice the workplace employee giving average, according to United Way worldwide data.
Since 2005, the employee-driven campaign has raised nearly $28 million through payroll deductions, event fundraisers, retiree donations and support from IBEW Local 2100 and the LG&E and KU Foundation.
Throughout the pandemic, LG&E and KU have remained committed to assisting customers and partnering on initiatives to help them manage through these difficult times. In addition to their annual employee-giving campaign, the utilities along with the LG&E and KU Foundation have contributed to the One Louisville and Team Kentucky funds; established Covid-19 payment plans for customers; and participated in coordinated relief efforts designed to assist residents and businesses across the Commonwealth.
Learn more about LG&E and KU’s ongoing commitment to the communities we serve.
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Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve more than 1.3 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 329,000 natural gas and 418,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 558,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia. More information is available at www.lge-ku.com and www.pplweb.com.
