FOUNDATION & CORPORATE GIVING

Giving Priorities in Action

• In Ohio, a $500,000 Foundation grant will enable the Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio to install a living roof on their new STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Ledgewood in Summit County. Expected to open in fall 2024, the STEM Center will include an 8,000 square-foot building that will house a range of learning spaces and experiences – everything from a wet lab and a tech space to a weather station and a workshop space, including tools needed for prototyping and invention. The Center will have innovative architectural and learning features, including a green roof, which reduces energy use and provides habitat for birds, butterflies and insects in addition to educational opportunities for students to explore wind and solar energy alternatives.

• In New Jersey, a $125,000 Foundation grant to the Healthy Connections Meals Program will help ensure that patients discharged from Hackensack Meridian Health retain access to nourishing meals tailored to their dietary requirements. This initiative aids in combating food insecurity while enhancing the overall well-being of patients within the regions served by FirstEnergy electric company Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L). Additionally, a dedicated community health worker actively links these patients with local food services and community-based resources to help support their overall health outlook. The FirstEnergy Foundation grant has also helped fund the program’s expansion at HMH’s Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Monmouth County.

• In Pennsylvania, FirstEnergy Foundation awarded Pennsylvania Women Work, western Pennsylvania’s premier women-focused workforce development organization, a $20,000 grant to sustain and grow its efforts to help women and other marginalized job seekers secure meaningful jobs that offer well-paying wages in Westmoreland County. The organization focuses on helping individuals overcome employment barriers to build more stable and prosperous futures for themselves and their families. Among its clients are single mothers, immigrants, women in recovery, formerly incarcerated individuals, first-generation college students and others experiencing a barrier to obtaining employment.

• In Maryland, FirstEnergy Foundation granted surprise "Gifts of the Season" totaling $36,500 to two local nonprofits, Girls Inc. and the Asian American Center of Frederick, that provide support services to underserved and vulnerable individuals within the Potomac Edison service area. A $20,000 grant to Girls Inc. helped fund the organization's after school program for girls who lack family and economic stability in their lives. A $16,500 grant to the Asian American Center of Frederick, helped support operations and purchase materials for programmatic activities, including its Annual Community Health Fair, Citizenship and Integration Services, Financial Literacy Education, Senior Volunteer Programs and Early Childhood Development workshops, all serving low-income, minority and/or immigrant populations in western Maryland.

• In West Virginia, FirstEnergy Foundation granted $25,000 to the Central Appalachian Region of the American Red Cross to continue its important work in the Mon Power service area supporting the health and wellness of diverse community members through the American Red Cross Sickle Cell Initiative. The grant will help the Red Cross aid people with sickle cell disease, the most common genetic blood disease in the U.S., which affects about 100,000 people, primarily of African descent. As a group, people with sickle cell disease experience worse health outcomes compared to patients with other diseases and have access to fewer health resources. The American Red Cross Sickle Cell Initiative will improve their quality of life by working to address health outcome disparities in African American communities.

Corporate Giving

FirstEnergy’s corporate giving strategies and volunteer engagement focus on initiatives that parallel our business interests, while helping our communities and the people who live in them achieve greater success. We are committed to building productive relationships to address areas throughout our service territory. Our contributions and philanthropic outreach support organizations and projects dedicated to improving the environmental, economic, social, educational and cultural aspects of our communities. 
 

Major Giving Campaigns

• Harvest for Hunger: Our company and employees care deeply about food insecurity in our communities. Every spring, our employees organize friendly fundraising competitions and events that support local food banks and community pantries. Our FirstEnergy 2023 Harvest for Hunger campaign was a great success. We exceeded our 1.5 million meals goal by providing 2.1 million meals to help feed families in need throughout our service area. In addition to surpassing our meals goal, we also exceeded our monetary goal of $214,286 by more than $80,800. This was achieved through our auction items, employee donations, funds from the Harvest for Hunger Step Challenge, Benevity user donations and the FirstEnergy Foundation's matching gift support.
• United Way: The FirstEnergy community has long supported United Way in its efforts to improve the health and socio-economic well-being of our communities. In 2023, we surpassed our $1 million goal by 19.6% thanks to the generous donations of employees. With gifts through our donor choice program and the 1-for-1 match from the FirstEnergy Foundation, contributions to nonprofit organizations through our 2023 United Way Employee Giving Campaign totaled more than $2.3 million.
   

Ongoing Charitable and Community Support Efforts

• Matching Gifts: The FirstEnergy Foundation’s Employee Matching Gifts program supports employee contributions to qualifying educational, cultural, youth, civic and health and human services organizations.
• Storm Response:  In-kind donations are also top of mind, especially following an extreme weather event. Staging sites for FirstEnergy operations during storm response often become distribution sites for excess food and supplies at the conclusion of a storm. Food, beverages, paper products and other supplies are donated to area foodbanks, community pantries and other social service agencies to aid customers as they recover following a storm.