2021 SGA Award Finalists

Program Description

Compassion to give back to the communities we serve flows through the heart and soul of Atmos Energy’s 4,700 employees. Whether it is reading to students, working with local food banks, or showing appreciation to our hometown heroes, our employees have always invested in the communities we call home.

The Fueling Safe and Thriving Communities program focuses on three primary areas: students, community heroes and our most vulnerable neighbors.

• Fueling bright minds and healthy futures for our kids. We believe in making a difference in the lives of children by collaborating with local school districts and education foundations to offer nutritious meals and provide resources to help children read at grade level by third grade.
• Fueling honor and thanks for our community heroes. We believe in showing our respect and gratitude to firefighters, police officers, medical teams, other first responders and teachers by providing free meals and support throughout the year for our hometown heroes.
• Fueling hope and growth for our neighbors. We believe in supporting our communities through programs that help eligible customers stay warm with financial assistance to pay their gas bills and upgrade their homes. We proudly support United Way, The Salvation Army and other local community welfare organizations.

Results/Response to the Program

Through our Fueling Safe and Thriving Communities program, in 2020 we:

• Donated $2 million across the eight states we serve to provide resources that help students read on level by the third grade.
• Partnered with United Way of Metropolitan to provide approximately 78,000 one-year subscriptions to Vooks, a streaming service exclusively dedicated to animated storybooks for children ages 3 to 6 and early education teachers. Funded by a $1 million contribution from Atmos Energy, the program will work toward United Way’s Aspire United 2030 education goal of increasing by 50 percent the number of North Texas students reading on grade level by third grade.
• Donated $2 million to hundreds of local school districts, food banks, and other essential organizations to give the breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and healthy meals that all children need to grow, develop, and succeed.
• Donated backpacks, lunch boxes, and water bottles to hundreds of schools, after-school programs, and nonprofit organizations to fuel bright minds and healthy futures for the kids in our communities.
• Donated $1 million directly to energy assistance agencies to help customers stay warm last winter. These funds were distributed in partnership with more than 100 energy assistance agencies and nonprofit organizations across the eight states we serve.
• Partnered with thousands of firefighter personnel to provide natural gas safety training, promote home safety guidance to residents, and support victims of natural disasters.

Our employees take enormous pride in their commitment to fuel safe and thriving communities. During our annual Week of Giving campaign, employees across the enterprise pledged more than $875,000 in donations to benefit United Way, No Kid Hungry, and The Salvation Army. Further amplifying the impact of this tremendous financial support, the company matched all employee donations to double the vital resources crucial organizations use to enrich childhood literacy, provide nutritious meals, and offer a helping hand to our most vulnerable neighbors.

During Week of Giving, employees across the enterprise also participated in various activities to give back to communities where they work and live. Some employees participated in an online Back to School Drive that amassed school supplies for students at Mi Escuelita, a preschool network that develops English language vocabulary skills at 11 locations in the Dallas area. Other employees wrote thank you notes to health care heroes to express gratitude for their service and offer words of encouragement. These are just a couple of examples of how our employees support their communities.

Program Description

Since 2017, Spire has provided all 3,600 employees across all of our service regions eight hours of paid time off to volunteer in their community with an organization or cause of their choice. This is known as their personal Day for Good. With operations in Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and Wyoming, we’re committed to making a difference in the communities we serve.

Spire also operates a volunteerism campaign during the summer months, encouraging employees to use their Day for Good by providing pre-arranged volunteer opportunities with community partner organizations across the territories we serve. In 2020, Spire adjusted its volunteer program to ensure support for our communities during the coronavirus pandemic. While the pandemic provided many challenges, the organizing team laid out and implemented a clearly defined plan of action to meet its goals.

Results/Response to the Program

Due to coronavirus restrictions throughout 2020, many organizations did not offer volunteer opportunities, or the opportunities that were offered were limited to smaller groups to accommodate social distancing requirements. This made it challenging for many employees to find volunteer opportunities. To account for this, Spire placed an emphasis on identifying both virtual and safe in-person volunteer opportunities.

The impact:

Activities varied from small groups participating in home-building events with Habitat for Humanity to individuals making cards at home for seniors in hospice care. Despite the challenges, year-over-year participation was nearly on par with previous years: 991 Spire employees completed 5,005 hours of volunteer service with 280 different organizations. This includes nearly 900 volunteer hours logged by senior leaders (approximately 100 directors, vice presidents and officers).