Alabama Power volunteers honor U.S. veterans with celebrations and service projects
Alabama Power and its employees have a long legacy of giving back to U.S. service members and veterans.
Members of the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) “pulled out all the stops” this year volunteering in several service projects that made life easier and more enjoyable for veterans and underserved community members. Those works will continue to benefit veterans now and long into the future.
Mobile Division APSO volunteers recently assisted Veterans Recovery Resources, a nonprofit that serves veterans in the Gulf region. In September, Alabama Power’s Erin Delaporte, Mitasha Huey, Monica Mabien, Walt Massey, Tripp Ward and project chair Chris Mayfield built eight new garden beds for the center’s agricultural therapy program, which is usable year-round.
Adding a homey touch to the center, Mobile APSO supplied new comforter sets – with sheets and pillowcases – in 16 bedrooms. Volunteers Huey, Erica Wells, Luis McMurphy, Louis Stuedeman and Mayfield assembled welcome packages for veterans, filling bags with hygiene items, such as razors, shaving cream, mesh laundry bags, socks and shower sandals. The team placed the items on the beds, adding new towels and washcloths.
Mayfield said it’s important to remember and honor America’s heroes, and to provide things they may need while recovering from injuries or other issues.
“One of the pillars of APSO is supporting our veterans,” said Mayfield, who noted the center’s founder, John Kilpatrick, sent a handwritten thank-you note. “This was an opportunity for us to give back to those who served.”
Additionally, several Alabama Power employees took part in the Publix Battleship 12K Patriotic Run on Nov. 16 in Mobile.
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Western Division APSO aids community memorial to veterans
Mitzi Jones, community relations manager at Alabama Power’s Jasper Office, said that Western Division APSO volunteers have worked in several projects that uplift veterans, their families and the community.
APSO volunteers took on a beautification project for Oakman Veteran’s Memorial Park, working alongside 40 agricultural students from Oakman High School, just in time for the city’s Veteran’s Day Parade and Celebration. Western APSO members James Aldridge, Hunter Davis, Billy Doss, Brandon Hinton, Renevia Johnson, Hayden McCarty, Eric Oliver and Jones installed new concrete flowerpots with red, white and blue flowers, freshened mulch throughout the park, pressure washed concrete walkways, performed edging and weed eating of walkways and installed flags.
“Mayor Hyde of Oakman stopped by to thank all the Western APSO volunteers for beautifying the park in his town,” Jones said.
To help beautify the Gordo American Legion, members of the Power Delivery crew for Reform planted flower bushes and added decorative stone edging around flower beds. The Reform crew, which included Western APSO volunteers, were Jackson Foster, Stevi Gandy, Larry Gonzalez, Susie Harris, Aidan Johnson, Josiah Lester, Miguel Marchant, Will Noland, Tommy Pratt and Matthew Whitehead.
The town of York memorial received a “spruce-up” from the APSO team, which applied elbow grease in weed eating and cleanup of the memorial bricks etched with veterans’ names. Volunteers Leah Banks, Dan Bott, Diane Brooker, Charles Elledge and Annie Larkin also dug a drainage ditch alongside the memorial and added a park bench for visitors.
Eastern Division APSO volunteers share smiles, treats at veterans celebrations
Eastern APSO members on Nov. 6 brought smiles and lots of joy to attendees at an old-fashioned ice-cream and root-beer social at Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City. APSO members bought festive decorations for tables and treated veterans to ice cream, candy and drinks.
“We had a lot of veterans show up,” said project chair Jessica Cech, longtime APSO member and clerk at the Sylacauga Office. Cech, along with Eastern Division’s Jerrod Datcher, Andrea Ellis, Jackson Fornwalt, Johnny Mack Hardman, Jeffrey Heckman, Braxton Hughes, Cory Madaris, Steve Marlowe, Michael Parker, Chris Roberts, Lori Sharpe, Jacob Stephens, Blake Teel, Jarrett Vick and Taylor Wesson gave 42 volunteer hours.
“It was really neat that our own U.S. veterans Johnny Mack Hardman and Jacob Dylan Stephens chose to volunteer in this project and serve others,” Cech added. She said the Eastern Chapter would like to repeat the celebration at the veterans home in Alexander City in 2026.
The next day, Eastern APSO hosted a bingo and pizza party for veterans at Pell City Veterans Home, chaired by Arnita Woodall, customer service representative at the Pell City Office. Woodall volunteered 10 hours while assembling goodie bags with snacks and treats and pouring soft drinks for attendees. Eastern APSO’s Keisha Chapman, Jackie Lowry, Stephanie Mitchell, Nickie Van Pelt, Kiyunda Smoot, Crystal Tanner and Amanda Young volunteered a total 30 hours, serving as hosts during the celebration and helping veterans and their families.
Southern Division APSO’s service brings healing
After heavy rains destroyed a road to the property owned by the nonprofit Mustangs and Heroes, founder Bill Schwenk found help through the Alabama Power Foundation. Schwenk, who created the program, found healing after his military career through therapeutic horse riding, and has since brought that to veterans in Alabama.
Rod Cater, longtime community relations manager of Alabama Power’s Southern Division, advocated for Schwenk’s healing program. Southern Division Eastern Operations employees quickly stepped up to help Mustangs and Heroes.
On Oct. 14-15, Power Delivery crews from Auburn, Lake Martin/Dadeville and Valley worked alongside Southern APSO volunteers to restore the road and perform other tasks. Company volunteers dug holes, placed posts, and cut the frames and siding for new horse stalls while also installing more than 1,200 feet of fencing.
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While that effort is doing its part to lift veterans’ spirits, Southern APSO has enhanced a memorial that honors veterans in Autauga and beyond. Andrea Johnson, staff accounting assistant at the Montgomery Office, said the chapter donated $4,000 to buy one of five flagpoles at Heroes Memorial Plaza, built in the past year for Autauga County’s Courthouse.
Customer Service Representative Ashley Jones led volunteers in an environmentally focused project at the Selma Office, which is improving life for veterans, those in shelters and the homeless. Jones and her Southern APSO team set up collection bins for employees and customers to donate reusable plastic bags. She was thrilled to collect three large boxes of bags, which went to a facility that cuts and crochets the plastic bags into sustainable bed mats.
Jones was excited to assist veterans and others in need. She said she is “amazed” at how something as simple, and as inexpensive as a recycled plastic bag, can do so much.
“This project proves that when we care about people and our planet, everyone wins,” she said. “We’ve got recycled bags, renewed purpose and restored hope.”