SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced the results of its first-ever Month of Service program in honor of National Volunteer Month in April. Over the course of the month, 2,831 PG&E employees, along with their friends and families, volunteered at 186 events and contributed 11,746 hours of service to a wide variety of projects in the communities where they live and work. PG&E partnered with Points of Light and its HandsOn Network, a leading volunteer service organization, to organize these projects.
"The spirit of volunteerism is alive and thriving at PG&E, and we are proud of our employees' dedication to enhancing the vitality of their communities through their participation in our first-ever Month of Service," said Ezra Garrett, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for PG&E. "This spirit of service lives on year-round at PG&E. In 2012, our employees gave more than 41,000 volunteer hours to communities throughout Northern and Central California, and these numbers continue to grow each year."
PG&E officially launched its Month of Service program on April 4, when its CEO Tony Earley was joined by nearly 80 employee volunteers at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in San Francisco to restore critical habitat and perform other maintenance at the site. On April 27, PG&E President Chris Johns and over 50 PG&E employees concluded the month-long program by weeding, painting and dusting at the historic Folsom Powerhouse, one of the oldest hydroelectric facilities in the world.
"PG&E stepped up to be the presenting sponsor for California State Parks Foundation's Earth Day event for the twelfth consecutive year in April," said Elizabeth Goldstein, president of CSPF. "They also expanded their commitment during National Volunteer Month with workdays in four additional state parks. We applaud PG&E's dedication to both our state parks and volunteerism."
In addition to partnering with the California State Parks Foundation on Earth Day state park restoration events, employees gave their time in a number of ways, including volunteering at the San Luis Obispo Marathon to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, educating the public about electric safety at Science Saturday in Sonoma County, installing solar panels as part of the utility's Solar Habitat partnership with Habitat for Humanity, and painting and restoring Mission High School in San Francisco.
About Points of Light
Points of Light – the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service – mobilizes millions of people to take action that is changing the world. Through affiliates in 250 cities and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages more than 4 million volunteers in 30 million hours of service each year. It brings the power of people to bear where it matters most. For more information, go to www.pointsoflight.org.
About HandsOn Network
The volunteer-activation division of Points of Light Institute, HandsOn Network includes 250 community action centers that deliver 30 million hours of volunteer service each year and extend to 16 countries around the world. These centers focus on helping people plug into volunteer opportunities in their local communities, partnering with more than 70,000 corporate, faith and nonprofit organizations to manage volunteer resources, and developing the leadership capacity of volunteers. Annually, the network delivers approximately 30 million hours of volunteer service valued at $626 million. For more information, please visit www.HandsOnNetwork.org.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/ and www.pgecurrents.com.
SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)