Last Thursday, green and white trucks bearing a Midwest Energy and Communications logo could be spotted at several different locations in Cass County as part of a special giving project.

MEC organized its second annual day of service on Thursday, Oct. 5. For the day, the company sent out 11 teams from their Cassopolis and Paw Paw branches into Cass County to perform various acts of service, closing their offices to do so.

One of the major acts performed was stocking the shelves at seven different area pantries, including the Edwardsburg Food Pantry. In Cassopolis, the MEC employees rebuilt planting boxes at the FFA barn outside the high school, while another group of employees repainted buildings at the Cass County Fairgrounds, just to name a few of the acts performed in the county.

“Community service is just part of our DNA,” said Patty Nowlin, vice president of corporate communications at MEC. “Giving back to the community is a really big part of who we are.”

Nowlin said that last year’s event was tied into the breaking of ground at their new Decatur Road location. This year, the day of service coincides with the grand opening of the completed building, which began serving customers in August.

The company found that a day of service was the best way to celebrate the occasion, Nowlin said.

“We want to make the statement that this is important enough for us to close our doors and support our local community,” Nowlin said.

The employees who took part in the day said they believed in the message behind the day of service and that they were happy to spend the day out of the office to help out the community.

“It’s so nice to be outside and doing something for the community,” said Dixie Teague, a MEC employee stationed at the Cass County Fairgrounds for the day of service. “It’s just a feel-good project, sometimes I wish I could do this everyday.”

Erin Velthouse, a MEC employee who was stationed at Ross Beatty Junior/Senior High School for the day, said that the day of service could have a larger reach than just a single day of service.

“I think people can see what we are doing and jump on the bandwagon of doing that,” Velthouse said. “Maybe now a lot more people will be giving back.”

Nowlin said that MEC has already received a flood of positive feedback from this year’s day of service that that the company will likely plan another event next year.

“The whole community wins when we can activate agents within the community,” Nowlin said. “We are part of this community. We are a member-owned cooperative. We think it’s important to be in the community and doing things like this.”