As a part of Cuivre River Electric Cooperative’s (CREC) continuing community outreach program, #CuivreCares, 14 CREC employees spent a morning in August volunteering with TREEHouse of Greater St. Louis, based in Wentzville. Formerly known as Therapeutic Horsemanship, TREEHouse has been around since 1975, and now annually serves more than 300 individuals with disabilities with equine-assisted therapy.
On August 11, the CREC team helped out by weeding the outside area and garden of the TREEHouse facility, cleaning the recreation area inside, and painting a ramp leading up to a lift used by participants to assist them with mounting their horses. CREC linemen brought their bucket trucks to help change lights in the parking lot light poles and those on the very high ceiling in the indoor arena.
As TREEHouse staff is minimal, the organization relies on some 250 year-round active volunteers, and episodic group opportunities like the morning CREC came out to help. Employees who participated were delighted to be there. “With everything TREEHouse represents, it’s whatever I can do to help so they can continue to focus on bringing smiles to faces who much deserve it,” said Kelsie St. Clair, engineering & operations service coordinator. Tonya Linton, member support representative, loves children and animals, “I can resist helping either one,” she said. “What impressed me the most about TREEHouse was the abundance of love for the horses and a mission to help the lives of children. I can’t think of a better purpose.”
Journeyman lineman Jon Pauk said it was a great opportunity to meet people who really care about helping others. “When I think about volunteering, I think about helping people because you never know what other people are doing behind the scenes to help you out. #CuivreCares gives us the unique opportunity to help out in ways that others can’t and target certain needs that people and organizations have,” he said. “We were happy to do our little part to make their jobs easier.”
After working, employees were treated to a tour of the grounds and a meet-and-greet with “Cappy” one of the resident horses.
The #CuivreCares initiative officially launched in 2018 and serves as an umbrella for individual volunteer community projects that take place throughout the cooperative’s service area. #CuivreCares opens the door for employees to get together both inside and outside of the office and support community improvement efforts that are important to them. TREEHouse, Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity are just a few of the organizations for which employees have either volunteered or participated in charitable fundraisers held within the co-op throughout the year. #CuivreCares has helped build team spirit and cultivate each employee’s interest in serving the communities in which they live and work.