CES Employee Helps Serve 8,000 Pounds of Food to Community During COVID
One night, City Electric Supply PR Specialist Janan Buisier was scrolling through LinkedIn when she found something that caught her eye — a post from another CES employee, Corporate and National Solutions Head Office Project Manager Benjamin Pickering, about how he was donating food to his community in Jasper, Georgia.
But it didn’t just catch her eye. When Buisier clicked on the post, she saw that Co-COO John Gray had also taken note and commented.
“I was so happy to find the story and even more excited to see it was from someone in our own CES family,” said Buisier. “CES is so tight-knit, it wasn’t that surprising that John Gray had noticed the post, too.”
What exactly was it that caught the attention of Buisier and Gray? The way Pickering was representing CES and making an impact on his community.
Helping the Community
“That was actually the fourth food drive I did with my church during the pandemic,” said Pickering, who has been a member of Revolution Church since 2017. “I helped organize this one and direct people to boxes of food.”
There were approximately 20 team members helping, and they were able to give away all 200 40-pound boxes of food (around 8,000 pounds total) provided by SERV International, an organization that has distributed over eight million meals worldwide. SERV International has been serving meals for a while now, and they’ve noticed a change since COVID.
“Hunger was already on the rise before COVID,” said Adili Kea, Chief of Operations and Development with Serv International. “COVID-19 lockdowns affected thousands of families in areas we serve thus increasing the need for critical food response to help save lives of the most vulnerable.”
“We saw that people needed food and the elderly couldn’t get out,” added Pickering. “The logical thing was a food drive.”
Teaming Up
So Revolution Church, Serv International, and Pickering teamed up to make a difference.
“We are extremely grateful that we have an opportunity to serve families that are struggling to put food on their tables during this pandemic and we feel blessed that we have the resources to make an impact in our local community,” added Zip Cain with Revolution Church.
“Being a helping hand in your community can go a long way to improving someone’s day, and it’s a great feeling,” said Pickering.
And being a helping hand in your community is something CES stands behind. CES has an entire division called CES Cares dedicated to supporting people like Pickering who want to give back to their communities. Employees can track their volunteering hours and actually earn money for their favorite charities that way.
“I’ve been at CES for six months, and I love the culture. That’s actually what drew me in,” said Pickering, who has been at CES for six months in the Corporate and National Solutions department*.
“Everyone I knew who worked here before me had good things to say,” he added.
Setting an Example
And CES employees have good things to say about Pickering, too. Just ask Social Impact Manager Karen Gray.
“What Ben is doing is so important. When his coworkers see what he does, he is potentially inspiring them to volunteer as well. I think it’s good to showcase to others inside and out of the company,” said Gray.
And it sounds like Ben, SERV International, and Revolution Church are on track to continue inspiring others.
“Anyone from the community can come and pack out these food boxes. We have a signup link each month, and there could be anywhere from 25 to 50 people on any given day!” said Cain.
City Electric Supply is excited to see how Pickering continues to help his community in the future, and it’s safe to say the rest of the CES family is, too.
“There are so many good stories of people helping within CES,” said Buisier. “You can find them in any one of the 500 branches across the U.S. I look forward to spotting the next good deed to share from a CES employee!”
*The Corporate and National Solutions (CNS) department at City Electric Supply is dedicated to cutting costs and energy consumption for commercial companies through 3D renderings and comprehensive electrical and modern lighting layout analysis. CNS offers a full range of completely customizable lighting and controls solutions that includes concepting and design, procurement analysis, full-stack project management, and warranty support for new construction, remodels, retrofits, and maintenance.
From national accounts and architects to engineers, designers, and contractors, our team can support your project by always making sure everyone’s on the same page and working toward a common goal. For more information, reach out to Nancy.RamdonConnolly@cityelectricsupply.com.