Families and friends throughout Farmers RECC’s service area will sit down at dinner tables for their annual Thanksgiving Day feast later this month. Many, like me, will follow that with spending time with family and maybe catching part of a football game (and maybe a quick nap).

But Thanksgiving isn’t just about full bellies and bustling kitchens. It’s also a time we set aside for reflecting and counting our blessings. This year, I’ll give thanks for many things.

I’m privileged to work for Farmers RECC and grateful for members like you who support the co-op’s mission and values. While our priority is always to provide safe, reliable electricity at a reasonable rate, we are also committed to honoring the core cooperative principle of “Concern for Community.”

It’s gratifying to work for an organization that makes a difference in people’s lives because it’s the right thing to do. Members who participate in Operation Warmhearts make it possible for other members in their community who may have fallen on hard times. We also invest in supporting scholarships, economic development and other mainstays of a healthy community. Other cooperative-supported initiatives help bring new jobs to our area and protect Kentucky’s natural resources.

I’m equally thankful for the opportunity to work closely with local schools to provide safety demonstrations and conservation education. Member support also makes it possible for us to send some of the community’s brightest young people to Washington, D.C., for the annual Youth Tour.

It’s a blessing to be a catalyst for good in our community as one of Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, too. We serve fellow Kentuckians through Honor Flight for military veterans, Ronald McDonald House for local families with seriously ill children and the Summer Games for Special Olympics Kentucky athletes. 

I hope you also have much for which to be grateful this Thanksgiving. May you and your loved ones have a happy, healthy and blessed holiday.