Cooperative Living Northern Virginia Electric • June 2020 • Co-ops Respond to a Crisis

When a crisis hits, you can count on electric cooperatives and their members to rise to the occasion.

That’s been a bright spot during the novel coronavirus pandemic. From making masks to thanking their members, co-ops have demonstrated the seventh cooperative principle — concern for community.

• In the Heritage Hunt community in Gainesville, Va., Chris and Mary Ann Bosco, members of Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, organized volunteers with the House of Mercy to make 5,000 washable cotton masks for hospital health care workers to cover professionally made masks. Several other co-ops have employees and members in the maskmaking business.

• Multiple co-ops have created free Wi-Fi hot spots at their headquarters, school parking lots or facilities accessible to the community. “With so many people working and learning from home, we want our members and community to have access to the internet during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Steven Harmon, president and CEO of Community Electric Cooperative in Windsor, Va.

• Powell Valley Electric Cooperative and Prince George Electric Cooperative are among co-ops reaching out on social media with “We Appreciate You” posts that urge members to send handmade cards of support to senior centers and first responders.

• Like many co-ops, PGEC also recently pledged even more financial support to three food banks in its service territory as a way of combating hunger in its territory.

• Rappahannock Electric Cooperative members in a Caroline County, Va., neighborhood spread cheer via a “Chalk Walk” and the response was overwhelmingly positive. REC lineworker Chuck Tippett flew his small plane in a flyover to thank workers at Mary Washington Health Care.

• In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative territory, gardeners have organized virtual plant swaps through Facebook messages to exchange glove-handled plants by leaving them on porches.

You’re sure to find more concern for community in your co-op’s pages in Cooperative Living or on its social media feeds.