Vol74-1 January 2024

Employees donate $58,000 to support local mental health organizations

Your cooperative employees raised $58,000 during the SMECO Annual Charity Golf Outing held in September 2023. The money was donated to a local organization that helps people with behavioral health disorders—Cornerstone Southern Maryland.

The annual charity event draws support from SMECO vendors, the cooperative’s board and executive team, and employees who volunteer. The cooperative selects different organizations each year to benefit from its fundraising efforts. In 2023, the cooperative chose Cornerstone as the fund-raising recipient because they help people with behavioral health disorders enhance their quality of life and realize their potential as citizens of the community.

“Our vendors and employees work together to make SMECO’s annual charity golf outing a successful event. The vendors provide very generous contributions that enable us to make a substantial donation that will help people in our community who need it most,” said Sonja M. Cox, SMECO’s president and CEO. “Like many other rural areas, Southern Maryland has a shortage of mental health services. Helping residents who are struggling with mental health issues or substance abuse addiction is vital to the well-being of our community.”

SMECO presents the donation from the 2023 fund-raiser to Cornerstone Southern Maryland

From left: Cindy Rauner, SMECO’s senior vice president for human resources; Cari Guthrie, president and CEO of Cornerstone Southern Maryland; Sonja Cox, SMECO’s president and CEO; Chris Brandt, Cornerstone Southern Maryland’s director of development and communications; and Natalie Cotton, SMECO’s government affairs and community relations director.

SMECO employee fund-raisers have contributed more than $542,000 to local organizations over the last 11 years.

2023 Sponsors

We are grateful to our business partners who generously contribute by providing donations and participating in the event. We rely on Golf Outing sponsors for their donations and we appreciate their assistance.