Lexington, KY - In the wake of Kentucky's devastating ice storms this year, local businesses have found generous and unexpected ways to put their own skills and services to work for the community.
Advantage Linen wanted to reach out to those in need, so they opened up their washers to launder roughly 900 pounds of blankets, bath towels, sheets and pillowcases that were used at area shelters for ice storm victims.
"It helps local people, and we're local people," said Maggie Hughes, office manager for the Lexington-based commercial linen company that normally provides its services for area restaurants, hotels, doctor's offices, and one-time special events. "It's always tricky for small businesses. It's not as simple as being able to write a big check or make a grand gesture like a big corporation. That was something they needed, and it was something we could easily provide for them."
Hughes said the company's commercial equipment was far more efficient than the alternative of using smaller machines, which would have taken time in addition to money.
"It was much easier than (the Red Cross) going to a local laundromat and having to sit through 30 loads," she said.
Thanks to Advantage, the Red Cross's linen supply is now folded and ready for the next call to emergency action.
"I hope they don't have to unwrap them for a while," Hughes said.
When Whitaker Bank Corporation of America purchased a new mobile kitchen for the Salvation Army of Central Kentucky last summer, they realized there was a need for it. At the time, they had no idea how much and how soon.
The nonprofit organization's previous unit was a 1970s model, and when the Salvation Army tried to mobilize it after the crash of Comair flight 5191 at Blue Grass Airport in 2006, the engine failed to start. A unit had to be borrowed from a neighboring area.
"We try to pick the opportunities that will have the greatest impact in helping the community," said Whitaker Bank Corporation of America Executive Vice President Elmer Keith Whitaker. "It was a great need and we were just happy to be in a position to help."
Six months after Whitaker Bank purchased the state-of-the-art kitchen on wheels worth roughly $100,000, the Salvation Army used it to provide more than 1,500 hot meals at 13 different sites during the ice storm recovery.
"None of us really thought we would use it so much and so soon," said Salvation Army Major Debra Ashcraft, who noted it was the Central Kentucky Salvation Army's largest corporate gift on record. "It was a gift in time."
Some Whitaker Bank locations were managing their own power outage problems during the storm, as were their employees, Whitaker said. In Berea, the bank consolidated its operations to one location running on generator power to continue serving customers.
"We went back to the handwritten tickets," Whitaker said. During that time, Whitaker employees still found time to volunteer in the mobile kitchen during the recovery efforts.
"I think the people who volunteer get more out of it than they thought they would," Whitaker said.
Ashcraft said the response from the community in general was very strong, and many local businesses were a part of it. Local Walmart stores, for instance, held a five-day drive to collect bottled water and canned meats for those in need, Ashcraft said.
And the kind gestures were not limited to the storm victims. When Jim Sawyer, the owner of Sawyer's Bar and Grill in downtown Lexington, saw utility workers braving frigid temperatures late into the night to return power to the community, he decided more than a simple thank you was in order.
"The little snow that was coming down was blowing sideways, and these guys were working their butts off. They don't even know the people on the other end of the line," Sawyer said. "I made up my mind that I wanted to buy every one of them dinner for two."
Sawyer contacted Kentucky Utilities and they distributed 105 of his dinner certificates to the line crew members, along with his hearty appreciation.
"They appreciate the gift, of course, but it's really more the acknowledgment by people out in the community of the hard work that they did," said Cliff Feltham, statewide media relations manager for Kentucky Utilities Company. Feltham said it doesn't happen often, but some people do take the time to send an e-mail or a letter expressing their gratitude, and those sentiments are posted for the line crew. "There were some overnights when we had single-digit temperatures, and it's just brutally punishing for guys to work under those conditions. To have the acknowledgment after having gone through those conditions, it does just warm their hearts."
Sawyer's gesture was mentioned by Lexington Herald-Leader writer Jim Jordan in his column, The Buzz, and Sawyer said he has had numerous phone calls from people about it, some of whom have wanted to send him money to defray his costs. He has declined the offers but he said the media and community attention was the last thing he expected when he made his call to KU.
"I'm a lucky, lucky businessman, and I saw the opportunity to give something back," Sawyer said. "I think if I wanted anything to come out of it, I'd like to see other people pick up on it next time."