NOVEC assists its communities with donations and volunteers every year. In 2021, NOVEC’s Quarterly Giving program supported homeless and domestic-violence shelters, humanitarian services, pet adoption groups and youth organizations.
“In 2021, we were pleased to contribute to numerous organizations that provided our most vulnerable community neighbors with food, shelter, clothing, and financial support,” said Lisa Hooker, NOVEC public relations vice president.
Additionally, more than 20,000 NOVEC customers participated in this year’s Operation Round Up. NOVEC’s ORU program donates to social-service agencies that provide energy assistance to NOVEC customers who need help paying their electric bills. The assistance allows recipients to stay warm and keep their lights on.
Holiday Giving
Toys and gifts employees collected in one of NOVEC’s six offices.
For the holidays, NOVEC HELPS, the co-op’s group of employee volunteers, ran a toy and gift drive for children who will spend the holidays at homeless shelters. NOVEC HELPS members offered coffee and doughnuts as employees brought in their gifts.
“Our donation boxes overflowed with toys, games, art supplies, winter hats and gloves, and other gifts,” said Nan Musick, NOVEC HELPS president. “Employees’ generosity will make Christmas morning happier for many children — from tots to teens.”
Day of Caring
In August, 40 NOVEC employees and NOVEC HELPS members spent a day assisting two food pantries. Volunteers built a compost bin, replaced lightbulbs, removed old wiring, sorted donated food and clothing and organized pantry shelves.
Quality Assurance Inspector Mark Windsor and other NOVEC employees stock food shelves on the Day of Caring.
Sophia Crooks, House of Mercy’s program manager, said, “Volunteers are of the utmost importance to our ability to live out our mission.”
At Western Fairfax Christian Ministries, volunteers filled 300 bags of food for distribution, cleaned shelves, and stocked food.
Kristine Hurt, Western Fairfax Christian Ministries’ pantry manager, said NOVEC workers “accomplished in one day tasks that might have taken us a couple of months to do. We appreciated NOVEC’s help.”
(Above Photo: NOVEC employees construct a compost bin for the House of Mercy on the Day of Caring in August 2021.)
—Report by Priscilla Knight, Senior Communications Specialist, NOVEC