Coweta-Fayette EMC Employee Honored for Community Service, Volunteerism

Palmetto, GA – December 29, 2011 – During Georgia EMC’s annual meeting, held Nov. 14 in Atlanta and featuring Gov. Nathan Deal, longtime Coweta-Fayette EMC lineman Lanny Hammett was recognized as a finalist for the association’s inaugural Community Service and Volunteerism Award.

This award was designed to highlight the wonderful and far-reaching work EMCs, their employees and directors do in Georgia each year. Hammett, a resident of Newnan who has worked tirelessly and quietly for his community and co-op over decades, was nominated in the Employee of the Year category and honored as one of the top three volunteers among the state’s electric cooperative personnel.

According to Anthony “Tony” Sinclair, CEO of Coweta-Fayette EMC, one of Hammett’s greatest contributions has been the establishment of a co-op Employee Benevolent Committee to help struggling families around the holidays.

“It’s hard to put a value on what his work has meant,” said Sinclair. “Our employees’ dedication and call to service often extend beyond the bounds of electric co-op work, and that is priceless. I can’t think of a more deserving volunteer nominee than Lanny Hammett – he truly exemplifies one of our core cooperative principles: commitment to community.”

As part of his award, Hammett received a $250 donation to the charity of his choice, Angel’s House. According to Kaye Todd, administrative assistant for the children’s emergency safe haven, his generosity will help fund Christmas activities and buy household items for the six teenagers currently in residence.

“Even the smallest donations mean so much to us,” she said. “Just imagine how much we spend on groceries alone!”

Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state’s 42 electric cooperatives, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp. Through this statewide network, the EMCs provide electricity and related services to more than four million people, half of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent of the state’s land area.

Coweta-Fayette EMC is a consumer-owned cooperative providing electricity and related services to over 74,000 member accounts in Coweta, Fayette, Heard, South Fulton, Clayton, Spalding, Troup and Meriwether Counties.

Coweta-Fayette EMC lineman Lanny Hammett (second from right) is recognized as a finalist for Georgia EMC’s inaugural Community Service and Volunteerism Award.

Angel’s House administrative assistant Kaye Todd (far left) and “house parents” Angela and Erik Vielhaber accept a donation from Lanny Hammett.

Amy Lott