Between the Lines: Alabama Power’s volunteer organizations represent company’s commitment to service
Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) volunteers embody the company's spirit of the giving season all year long. (contributed)
This is the season of giving, but, as Kim Savage puts it, “At Alabama Power, every season is the season of giving.”
Savage is the executive director of the Alabama Power Service Organization, a team of employee volunteers who support nonprofit work throughout Alabama Power’s service territory.
My earliest memory of APSO came around 20 years ago, long before I ever joined the company, when my wife voluntold me to play on the APSO team in a charity softball tournament. Since then, I’ve volunteered many times on several projects, including a partnership with Talladega United Way to build beds for children who previously didn’t have one.
Anthony Cook is the media relations principal for Alabama Power Company.
Seeing the smiles on the faces of kids who got to jump on and lay down in their own bed for the first time was one of my most rewarding experiences ever.
The history of APSO
APSO was started in 1992 by a group of Alabama Power executives’ wives who wanted to help the community and give back, Savage said. It was such a good idea to have an organized way to volunteer and serve in the community on behalf of the company that it was extended to all employees.
“To be a member of Alabama Power Service Organization, you have to be an employee, and we also have spouses and children of employees as well,” Savage said. “So, I’m a member, and my husband is a member as well, and then my two boys are members, too.”
Alabama Power’s 6,000 employees are encouraged to serve as APSO volunteers, but there are two employees whose job it is to support the organization: the executive director, Savage; and the newly named associate director, J. Patrick Reed. Community service and volunteerism are so important to Alabama Power that the company has created jobs where people lead those efforts.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work in such a great organization,” Reed said, “and look forward to serving our state and communities in the future.”
Savage and Reed work in Charitable Giving, which is the Alabama Power work group that supports APSO.
APSO has nine chapters throughout Alabama Power’s service territory, which covers the southern two-thirds of the state. That service territory is divided into six geographical regions: Eastern, Birmingham, Western, Southern, Southeast and Mobile. Six of the APSO chapters are aligned with those divisions, and three other chapters are aligned with Alabama Power plants – Barry, E.C. Gaston and Miller.
Each chapter has its own leadership board and its own president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and communications director, and each chapter president sits on the state board, which helps guide the strategic direction of APSO.
APSO chapter presidents:
- Barry — Josh Anderson
- Eastern — ZaToya Zackery
- E.C. Gaston — Justin Bailey
- Miller — Dion Oliver
- Mobile — Erica Maize
- Magic City (Birmingham) — Jessica White
- Southeast/Farley — Kami Nesmith
- Southern — Tabatha White
- Western — Stevi Gandy
Each chapter decides which projects it wants to support and then notifies its members about volunteer opportunities.
“We want our chapters to remain autonomous,” Savage said. “It’s a partnership with the folks in the divisions and at the plants who are connected to their communities and know what the needs are. Whereas you have someone like me in Birmingham, I’m not up to speed on the nuances of things that go on in Headland, Alabama, or in Eufaula, or in Tuscaloosa, or in Mobile, or in Saraland. So, we need people who are there rooted in those communities, who can guide and direct the work that we do.”
APSO funding
APSO receives grants from the Alabama Power Foundation, which is a charitable nonprofit organization. None of the APSO, Foundation or Charitable Giving funds are associated with ratepayer dollars. None of the dollars spent by APSO come from Alabama Power Company, but instead those dollars come from the Foundation.
Alabama Power Service Organization Executive Director Kim Savage with her husband, Denny, and their sons, Max and Ben. Savage says service is a value she and her husband want to instill in their sons, and APSO provides a great way to do it. (contributed)
State law requires that nonprofits have public support, defined as money coming in (APSO receives membership dues and grants from the Foundation) and money going out (APSO provides in-kind community service through volunteer projects).
Dues for APSO members are $12 annually, which equates to about 50 cents per paycheck and comes with the iconic red APSO T-shirts that volunteers wear when working on service projects. (More on that later.)
The Energizers
In addition to APSO, Savage also serves as executive director for Energizers, which is made up of retired Alabama Power employees who opt in to join the Energizers organization of volunteers. They pay an annual $15 membership fee.
“We have people who retire, and they want to stay connected with the company and continue serving,” Savage said. “Being involved with Energizers is a really good way of staying connected with old friends and making new friends while continuing to serve their community.”
Those who join also have access to the Energizers travel group, which takes some amazing trips strictly for leisure.
“They’ve done some really cool trips,” Savage said. “They’re going to Ireland in April, and then in December 2025, they’re doing a riverboat cruise for Christmas on the Danube to the Christmas market in Europe, so they’re really excited about that. It’s a good way for them to see the world and someone else does all the planning for you.”
Energizers also have nine chapters, but they’re aligned slightly differently. They also have their own leadership teams, and they pick and choose the projects they want to do.
Energizer chapter presidents:
- Magic City (Birmingham) — Don Franklin
- Corporate Headquarters — Ann Wilkinson
- Eastern — Faye Bows
- Gadsden — Milton Lowe
- Jasper — Judy Beavers
- Mobile — Jay Burdette
- Southern — Micheal Smith
- Southeast — Mike Tew
- Western — Scott Shurett
“They do some projects as a group, some projects with APSO and they certainly do community service on their own, too,” Savage said. “They’re a 501C-3 as well, and each chapter gets a grant from the Foundation. Their grant is tied to the number of community service hours the chapter’s members complete. So, the more hours the chapter’s members complete, the higher the grant amount the chapter receives from the Foundation.”
The Foundation’s role is to make funding decisions on grant requests from nonprofits, and the role of both the Energizers and APSO is to help support nonprofits and organizations in our state by actually doing the work.
“That’s where APSO and Energizers come in,” Savage said. “It’s not our job to write checks. It’s our job to do the work.”
Volunteer engagement and growing the membership ranks of APSO are Savage’s priorities for 2025. Any system employee who lives in Alabama – which, in addition to Alabama Power, includes Southern Company Services, Southern Nuclear and Southern Linc – is encouraged to join APSO.
Examples of volunteer projects
During the COVID pandemic, Alabama saw a rise in homelessness, and the APSO State Board wanted to do something to address those needs.
So, the board bought some supplies and put together around 500 or 600 “dignity kits” that were distributed throughout Alabama Power’s service territory.
“The kits were drawstring duffle bags stuffed with toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, mints, socks, underpants, little things that someone who’s down on their luck might need,” Savage said. “We partnered with churches and nonprofits whose focus is on homelessness to distribute them throughout our service territory.”
This project allowed the involvement of almost every division office and crew headquarters, which is significant because work schedules often don’t leave time to volunteer.
“We’re trying to meet people where they are, and we started that last year with the Dignity Kits project,” Savage said. “So, if they want to do a service project, we need to make it as easy as possible to make it work logistically and with their current workload.”
BY THE NUMBERS (2023)
APSO volunteers: 6,154
Hours served: 19,793 (down from 25,000 before the pandemic)
Energizers volunteers: Around 2,000
Hours served: 39,274
Other projects have included refurbishing playgrounds, building nursery beds at senior centers, partnering with other nonprofits to build beds for children, landscaping, painting, etc.
“One group went to the Grace Klein Community Food Bank in Hoover, where they provide fresh fruits and vegetables so you can make a meal for your family,” Savage said. “You can just roll your car up, and they’ll give you a box of fresh food.”
Another group went out to Carver Park in Bessemer and partnered with Cool Green Trees and helped plant trees to create a greenspace near where a railroad track runs through a small community.
“The residents have complained about the noise of trains coming through at night, and the trees can serve as a sound barrier,” Savage said. “They planted almost 40 trees in two-and-a-half hours on a Monday in October.
“They were so excited because those trees are going to be there for years to come,” she continued. “They were there to support this neighborhood and give these residents a sound barrier for the trains and also something to look at, provide some shade for when their kids want to play when they’re out at the ballpark. Just a really cool, feel-good project.”
‘The red shirts are coming’
A sure-fire way to recognize when APSO volunteers are working on a service project is the army of red T-shirts branded with the APSO logo on the chest and back. Savage wasn’t sure how or when the red shirts became a staple of the organization, but she’s positive it was all about branding.
“Red has been Alabama Power’s color for forever with the logo,” she said, pointing out how the company switched to the current multi-colored logo around eight years ago. “We have lots of people to say they’re excited that the red shirts are coming. It’s just a good, easy way to identify a volunteer. If you’re out there on a project site and you have a question and you’re not sure who to go to, find somebody in a red shirt. They’re going to know the answer. If they don’t know the answer, they will get you to someone who knows the answer.”
How to request APSO help
The state APSO Board makes sure all projects align with company priorities and objectives. APSO assists 501C-3 nonprofit organizations, not individuals or for-profit companies.
Any nonprofit can visit the www.powerofgood.com website or email Savage directly at KSSAVAGE@SOUTHERNCO.COM for help. The website has information about APSO and Energizers, and there’s a “contact us” tab that sends inquiries directly to APSO leadership.
Anyone seeking financial assistance would need to go through the grant process, and all of those requests go to the Alabama Power Foundation Board of Directors, which reviews requests on a quarterly basis. That application is also on the website.
The goal is to help organizations that are trying to do the good work of making the state of Alabama a better place.
“APSO and Energizers are working hand-in-hand to support the company’s mission, which is service to Alabama,” Savage said. “Personally, I feel the need to give back and to pay it forward. And I also want my children to have those same values as well. The company cares so much about this state and the people who live here that they have made an organized effort to allow their employees to go out and volunteer in the community, so we can help and support Alabama together.”
In this 2022 photo, the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) gathers in Mobile for its annual convention. Members dedicated an entire day to service, conducting projects for the historic Africatown community, Camp Grace, Mulherin Home and Feeding the Gulf Coast. (contributed)
Between the Lines is a monthly column by Alabama Power’s Anthony Cook, sharing energy education that powers our daily lives.
