|
|
|
|
Barri Lewis never quite knows what will show up for her in the interoffice mail or at her desk. One day it might be a box filled with travel size soap, shampoo and toothpaste. Another day it could be children’s clothes. She occasionally receives suitcases and once got a package of disposable diapers.
Unusual as it sounds, the wide variety of items that find their way to Lewis’ mailbox are tangible proof of the generosity of SCANA employees. For the past several years, Lewis has coordinated donations from employees to Sistercare, a program of services for battered women and their children living in the Midlands of South Carolina.
“I get calls every day from employees who want to donate things,” said Lewis, who works in SCE&G’s gas department. “I take a load of donations to the shelter almost every week.”
Lewis first became involved with Sistercare after SCANA’s Women’s Leadership Group decided to support the organization. The group now holds an annual school supply drive and Christmas giving tree for women and their children living at the Sistercare shelter.
“These women really don’t have anywhere to turn,” Lewis said. “I knew we had a good source for donations from our employees. But we didn’t have anyone to coordinate the donations. I saw there was a need that needed to be filled.”
A few years ago, Lewis had the idea of posting an announcement on the company bulletin board requesting donations from employees. She began by asking for personal care products, but the effort has grown to include an amazing variety of items, from blankets, clothes and school supplies to toys, furniture and bicycles. The bulletin board is now Lewis’ main source of communication with employees who want to donate. Her manager, Leigh New says that Lewis is a “dedicated person who always gives from the heart”.
Lewis said her commitment to Sistercare stems from an experience she had several years ago.
“It was around Christmastime, and I saw that an employee was trying to sell several bicycles on the bulletin board,” she recalled. “I called and asked if he would like to donate the bikes to a woman I knew about at the shelter. When I told her that I had bikes for her children, she just started crying. Having a bike would allow her son to still go to school and get to work.
“That’s when I just fell in love with trying to make a difference.”
|
