Pulaski, VA — In a brief ceremony today at the Pulaski train station, three Virginia power companies made a combined $3,000 donation to the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program’s Southwest Virginia region.
The three companies, Appalachian Power, Dominion Virginia Power, and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, have long been supportive of our nation’s veterans both in their hiring practices and in their commitment to programs that provide assistance for America’s service men and women. Representatives of Dominion and ODEC are visiting in Appalachian Power’s territory to participate in the New River Trail Challenge Triathlon. The joint donation to the Wounded Warrior Program is a way of cementing a friendly competition among all three companies in the Triathlon.
The Wounded Warrior Program is an initiative of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services. It was established by the governor and General Assembly in legislation enacted in 2008 to coordinate health and rehabilitative services for veterans and their families. The program draws its strength from the collaboration and cooperation of the several public and private agencies within the commonwealth that provide services to Virginia veterans.
Matthew E. Wade, Region III director of Wounded Warrior Program, accepted the donation on behalf of the program. “Funds donated to the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program (VWWP) are managed by the Veterans Services Foundation. VWWP utilizes these funds to assist veterans in financial need who have sustained combat related injuries such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injuries, and other invisible wounds,” Wade explained.
At the train station today for the presentation ceremony, in addition to Wade, were representatives of all three power companies; state Delegates Nick Rush and Joseph Yost; Jennifer Boyd, a representative of State Sen. Phillip Puckett; Pulaski Town Manager John Hawley; Pulaski County Administrator Peter Huber; Jeffrey S. Worrell, mayor of Pulaski and an Appalachian Power employee; New River Trail Park Superintendent Sam Sweeney; and Steven Boyd of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
“Dominion appreciates this opportunity to continue its support of Virginia’s service men and women and their families,” said Jim Beamer, a legislative affairs manager for the company. “These citizen soldiers have given of themselves for the rest of us, and we are glad to be able to give something back,” he said.
“We are pleased to participate in this event and honor those who have given so much for their community and country, said Mary Begley, a community affairs manager for Appalachian Power. Dominion and Appalachian Power are also participants in an industry initiative, “Troops to Energy,” whose emphasis is in providing employment opportunities for veterans of the armed services.
Jack Reasor, president and CEO of Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, another of today’s donors, said his company “is proud to support the Wounded Warrior Program by participating in the New River Trail Challenge Triathlon. “Being part of a worthwhile event reflects our concern for community, one of the seven cooperative principles that ODEC and Virginia’s member-owned electric cooperatives live by,” he said.
Representatives from one of ODEC’s member cooperatives, including Michael Keyser, CEO and General Manager of BARC Electric Cooperative, BARC board member Jason Black and his wife Vicki, are also one of the teams participating in Saturday’s Triathalon.
More information about the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program can be found at Virginia Department of Veteran Services website.
Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 28, 00 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation’s largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the Dominion's website.
Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative is a generation-and-transmission cooperative that provides wholesale power to 11 member distribution cooperatives, nine in Virginia, and one each in Maryland and Delaware. ODEC and its member systems are not-for-profit electric cooperatives that are owned by the member-consumers they serve.
View official press release: Power Companies Contribute to Wounded Warrior Program (PDF)