Co-Op Pitches In

FARMINGTON — Ozarks Cares, a community action program of Ozarks Electric Cooperative, operates on the theme, “We love our communities.”

Recently Ozarks Electric employees spent a Saturday morning working in conjunction with the Farmington High School softball team to refurbish a youth softball field near the Lady Cardinal field and Farmington’s Indoor facility.

According to Mitch Styles, Community Outreach & Education Coordinator for Ozarks Electric, the company believes that by helping build and maintaining strong communities through the Ozarks Cares program, the company can help improve the lives of members.

Through Ozarks Cares, Styles said, the company keeps three main areas of focus in mind: volunteering, giving and education.

Volunteerism

“Volunteering is extremely important part of our culture,” Styles said, noting employees donate nearly 1,000 hours every year through the volunteer program.

“Those hours don’t come close to reflecting the actual time our employees spend working — on their own time — within our communities to make a difference,” Styles said.

Giving

The company philosophy emphasizes an important responsibility to help improve communities served as well as the lives of co-op members that goes beyond providing electrical service to members.

“Giving has always been a major part of who we are, it’s in our DNA,” Styles said.

Since 2002, Ozarks Cares has raised almost $300,000 in charitable giving, half of that came from donations directly from employees.

Education

According to Styles, Ozarks Cares seeks to make a difference in the lives of youth; whom the company acknowledges as the future of communities served by the co-op.

“We value the role we are able to play in their education,” Styles said. “We also feel that it’s our duty to do our part in educating our younger members.”

Each year Ozarks Cares sponsors four local high school juniors to attend the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington D.C. The program gives out more than $25,000 in scholarships to local high school seniors each year, and is proud to be a part of the great electric vehicle program.

To learn more about ways Ozarks Cares is helping make a difference visit the company website at ozark secc.com/cares.