NIPSCO’s month-long volunteerism effort resulted in more than 1,200 total volunteer hours
Featured image: NIPSCO employees volunteer for a trash pick-up event at the Wetlands Initiative as part of the company's month-long Charity of Choice campaign.
Throughout September, more than 300 Northern Indiana Public Service Company LLC (NIPSCO) and NiSource Inc. employees rolled up their sleeves and volunteered at 33 local non-profit organizations across northern Indiana as part of the company’s 14th annual Charity of Choice campaign.
NIPSCO and Indiana-based NiSource employees dedicated a total of 1,201 hours of service to various causes. Volunteers supported dozens of local organizations, including the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Little River Wetlands, White County United Way and Boys & Girls Clubs of La Porte County, to name a few.
“Charity of Choice is a way to demonstrate NIPSCO’s commitment to giving back, empowering employees to make a difference through volunteerism to organizations that strengthen the communities where our customers live and work,” said Vince Parisi, NIPSCO President and Chief Operating Officer. “Local organizations are the foundation of a strong community. Our Charity of Choice campaign reflects the heart of NIPSCO as dedicated corporate citizens and community stewards, willing to always give back to those who need it most.”
Parisi, along with other leaders including NIPSCO’s Senior Vice President of Electric Operations, Orville Cocking and NIPSCO’s Vice President of Gas Operations, Karima Hasan Bey, led volunteer events during the campaign.
From facility cleaning and landscaping to event organization and home construction, volunteers pitched in to assist organizations with a variety of tasks.
“We are committed to fighting food insecurity in the Region and we love having groups from NIPSCO come in to help us,” said Charlie Cole, Development Manager at the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana. “NIPSCO employees regularly volunteer their time and always enthusiastically assist with our daily tasks. It's great to bring new volunteers into the mix and this is especially true when speaking about our partnership with NIPSCO.”
Some of NIPSCO’s Charity of Choice volunteer opportunities were environment and habitat focused, like the Monarch Joint Venture in Fort Wayne. Robert Seilheimer, the organization’s Development Manager, hosted a group of NIPSCO volunteers to tag individual monarch butterflies to track their migration patterns and collect data on the insects, which Seilheimer said are a candidate for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species list.
Seilheimer said it was enjoyable for the organization to have so many NIPSCO volunteers contributing to Monarch conservation and community science.
“We are incredibly grateful for NIPSCO’s dedication to pollinator conservation and biodiversity,” Seilheimer added. “Their support and work are making a real difference for monarchs, other pollinators, and the environment in Northern Indiana.”
Additional organizations NIPSCO supported in the month of September included:
• American Heart Association, Chesterton
• Boys & Girls Club of La Porte County, La Porte
• Challenger Learning Center, Hammond
• City of La Porte Park and Recreation, La Porte
• Crisis Center, Gary
• Cultivate Food Rescue, South Bend
• Fair Haven Rape Crisis Center, Highland
• Family Service Association of Howard County, Inc., Kokomo
• Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Crown Point
• Fremont Youth and Community Outreach Inc., Fremont
• Griffith Youth Baseball League, Griffith
• Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana, Lake Station
• Hammond Hispanic Community Committee, Hammond
• Hilltop Neighborhood House, Valparaiso
• Humane Indiana, Munster
• Junior Achievement of Chicago, Gary
• Latinos Count, Lake County
• Leon’s Triathlon, Chesterton
• Little River Wetlands, Fort Wayne
• Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana, Hebron
• Monarch Joint Venture, Syracuse
• Opportunity Enterprises, Valparaiso
• Save the Dunes, Porter
• Silverstray Social, Gary
• Sojourner Truth House, Gary
• St. Jude House, Crown Point
• The Nature Conservancy, East Chicago
• The Salvation Army - Munster Office, Munster
• The Salvation Army of Michigan City, Michigan City
• The Wetlands Initiative, Gary
• TradeWinds Services, Inc., Hobart • White County United Way, Monticello
To learn more about NIPSCO’s tradition of giving, visit NIPSCO.com/NIPSCOGivesBack.
About NIPSCO:
Northern Indiana Public Service Company LLC (NIPSCO), with headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana, has proudly served the energy needs of northern Indiana for more than 100 years. As Indiana’s largest natural gas distribution company and the second-largest electric distribution company, NIPSCO serves approximately 900,000 natural gas and 500,000 electric customers across 32 counties. NIPSCO is part of NiSource’s (NYSE: NI) six regulated utility companies. NiSource is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.8 million natural gas and electric customers through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. More information about NIPSCO and NiSource is available at NIPSCO.com and NiSource.com.