* Brian Wheeler, Media Relations Specialist for Consumers Energy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ryan Wheeler is a media relations specialist for that company,
and he's going to talk to us about the Consumer's
Energy Foundation and a grant that they've given to the
Food Bank Council of Michigan to help those who need it.
Thank you for being here, and that sounds like an
early holiday presence and the joy and the sort of

(00:21):
thing that Jimmy Stewart was just talking about.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Brian and I did morning to you, and I think
you know, as you talk about those milestones for this
time of year, certainly the holidays are on our minds,
and so we at the Consumer's Energy Company and our foundation,
a charitable arm, are trying to reach out to our
neighbors and our friends. And so you mentioned our foundation
yesterday provided a quarter of a million dollars two hundred

(00:46):
and fifty thousand dollars to support the Food Bank Council
to really help feed up the process and be more
active and getting food to those who need it, especially
this winter.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
How does that work? And I know there was a
lot of attention paid recently because of the government shut
down to the disruption of the snap benefits.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Right, and as we've talked about, as everyone knows the
federal government signed the proclamension to reopen yesterday, so I
think that's going to mean better news for getting some
staff benefits to people, but really the issue of what
we call food insecurity. As many as one in nine
Michiganders have issues getting the three square meals the day

(01:30):
they need or they don't know where their meal is
going to come from. So our contribution to the Food
Bank Council is going to have a state bid impact.
They're actually launching a new program to do more in
terms of making deliveries of food to people at home.
So you think about seniors, people who may have issues
getting on the road for example, or going to food bank,

(01:52):
people's abilities, those with young people with children. This program
is going to help deliver food seven days a week
two people's homes to make sure that they've got their
next meal ready to go out there in front of them.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
It's interesting because there would be a fair amount of people,
including myself, who wouldn't have known what a SNAP benefit
was until we found out people weren't getting it when
the shutdown happened. It's one point six million Michigan residents
and essentially it is the supplemental nutrition Assistance program.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Right exactly, and you think about this really as a network.
There are advocacy and policy efforts that are designed to
strengthen the economy and get more people jobs. But at
the most basic level, I think we acknowledge that there's
a public role in ensuring that nobody goes hungry. And
that's not just a governmental role with the SNAP program,
but we look to our food banks, food pantries across

(02:46):
the state. You think about Feeding America for example in
West Michigan, or those regional food pantries, and then the
ones that are in churches and community centers right where
you live. There's a constant need to get food on
the shelves, in this case, getting that food delivered to
people's homes. If they can't get to the pantries themselves,
whether is a government shutdown or not, that need doesn't

(03:08):
go away. Like we said, one in nine michigan Anders
are typically facing some sort of challenge or hardship, and
so we try to connect people with those resources, calling
two one one for example we've mentioned before, to get
you in touch with assistance of all types. But at
that basic level, nobody should go hungry, and so really
proud that the Foundationsmer's Energy Foundation, we can make a difference.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
You know, it's interesting when you hear about power companies
in the news, often it has to do with rates,
and Consumer's Energy is Michigan's largest energy provider. They have
the Consumer's Energy Foundation, as you're just hearing about here.
But also when you are providing power for that many
people in the state of Michigan, it's a giant responsibility

(03:52):
and that's in the you know, Department of security on
a day to day basis, especially when we get the
winter that we typically get.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, our company, with just electric, electricity and natural gas
touches close to seven million in michiganers out of a
state with ten million people. We see a lot of
different communities and a lot of different needs, and we,
like everybody else, we know, we have a responsibility to
step up and be part of solutions for the communities

(04:22):
that we serve, and so I think it's important that
we can provide these dollars. There's actually right now on
inside our company, there's going to be a push to
encourage people like me, people who work for Consumers Energy,
to volunteer. That's always a priority for ours, but for us,
but working and volunteering, say at those two ad banks,
and to see what we can do in terms of

(04:43):
making additional personal donations. Our company's foundation will be able
to match those dollars if, say Brian Wheeler writes a
check to the Food Bank Council. So it doesn't stop here,
because it never really stops the need for feeding people
from beings, you know, those something never and especially as
we said winter, we hope everybody can do their part. Well.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Those Consumers Energy employees and retirees contributed more than fifteen
million in support for Michigan nonprofits, and so we say
thank you, and you can learn more and contribute to
at Consumers Energy dot com slash foundation. He's Brian Wheeler,
I'm Michael Patrick Shields.

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