How Alabama Power volunteers are cheering up our veterans
Employees working through the Alabama Power Service Organization donate time and resources at the William F. Green Veterans State Veterans Home in Bay Minette. (Brian Jordan / Alabama NewsCenter)
Veterans living at the William F. Green State Veterans Home in Bay Minette have new reasons to smile, thanks to volunteers from Alabama Power.
More than a dozen employees volunteering through the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) spent a few hours Nov. 5 planting flowers and fall vegetables in pots and raised garden beds throughout the facility’s courtyard. Tripp Ward, president-elect of the Mobile chapter of APSO, said volunteers were thrilled to return to the veterans home after COVID-19 forced them to pause their work last year.
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“This is something we have done for four or five years now,” Ward said. “It’s just an honor to be here and give back small tokens of appreciation to the veterans.”
Alabama Power employees volunteer at state veterans home from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
The home, which opened in July 1995, is one of four veterans homes owned and operated by the state of Alabama to serve aging or chronically disabled veterans; the others being in Huntsville, Alexander City and Pell City. Brian McFeely, administrator for the state veterans home in Bay Minette, said the veterans love to see the APSO volunteers.
“It makes their day,” McFeely said. “They love just talking to people and sharing their stories. We’re very blessed to have this relationship.”
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The courtyard garden project began about five years ago when Ward and others discovered some of the veterans have a green thumb.
“We saw they had a true passion for gardening,” Ward said. “They had green thumbs and they coached us, so we were able to partner with a couple of other agencies years ago to have these beds built, and then what we’ve tried to do is maintain them and keep them up.”
Ward said APSO volunteers plant seasonal vegetables and flowers twice a year, with the veterans taking care of the plants between visits.
“They keep them up,” Ward said. “They groom and manicure the plants. It just gives them something to look forward to.”
McFeely said the home needs more volunteers like those from APSO.
“They love the visitors,” he said. “They’ll come out and enjoy each other. It really makes a difference.”
