North Fort Myers, FL, May 7, 2019 – When they aren’t hard at work keeping your lights on, LCEC employees volunteer countless of hours throughout our community. Nights, weekends, you name it…LCEC employees are there. From judging Odyssey of the Mind to coaching little league to packaging food for the hungry, employees give of their time and their heart to help others. In an effort to support their passion for philanthropy, LCEC designed the Pay It Forward Program to encourage volunteerism and support employees efforts to actively give back to their favorite qualifying non-profit organization. Through this program, employees who volunteer and track volunteer hours can earn Pay It Forward donation dollars which are, in turn, awarded to a 501(c)(3) charity of choice. To receive Pay It Forward donation dollars, employees must volunteer at least 50 hours. Once an employee hits 50 hours, they can designate a benefiting organization to receive a $50 donation on behalf of the employee. While there are several employees who volunteer more than 500 hours each year, two LCEC employees logged over 1,000 in 2018! Those who reach the “500 Club” or “1,000 Club” are entered into a drawing for $500 or $100 respectively for their charity of choice. As if their good deeds aren’t enough, winners of these drawings have opted to split the funds amongst other “Club” members so that more charities can benefit! Since the launch of Pay It Forward in March 2016, employees have logged nearly 21,000 volunteer hours and raised more than $9,000 for their favorite charities. These figures will only continue to grow as volunteerism grows within the LCEC organization!
The Pay It Forward Program is just one way that LCEC gives back to the community. Another example of LCEC’s commitment to this community is our continual fundraising efforts which bring in over $200,000 annually for the United Way of Lee, Hendry, Glades and Okeechobee Counties and thousands of dollars and hours for other worthy causes. LCEC is proud, honored and dedicated to taking an active role in making our communities and the environment a better place to work and live.