The phrase “Angel Tree” is attributed to Majors Charles and Shirley White of The Salvation Army. Suffice it to say, they were onto something.
During this past holiday season, contributors to Community Electric Cooperative’s Angel Tree fundraiser blessed 28 CEC families with a total of $7,742 applied directly to their electric bills. CEC sponsored the charitable initiative to assist member-owners facing hardships ranging from a woman battling breast cancer, to a family grieving the loss of a child while raising a grandchild, to a spouse coping with the passing of her husband, and more.
CEC’s goal was to raise $5,000, but the community’s outpouring of support eased the financial burden of these members far beyond expectations.
“What a fantastic tribute to the warmth and generosity of our community that the Angel Tree effort raised such a significant amount of money. We feel privileged to have sponsored this fundraising drive, and we couldn’t be happier that the donations had a direct, positive impact on the lives and stress levels of members facing life-changing hardships,” said Jessica Parr, CEC Manager of Communications. “We’re already having conversations about this and other fundraising initiatives we can conduct during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season in 2026.”
Parr noted that the Angel Tree project was significantly boosted by Ava Joyner, a student at Suffolk Christian Academy. Ava was one of three participants in CEC’s Youth Program in 2025. During the national Youth Tour, which brought hundreds of students from cooperative families to the nation’s capital for a week last summer, Ava was elected as the Virginia Delegate to the national Youth Leadership Council.
Her responsibilities as a delegate included working with her sponsoring cooperative on a community project, and CEC tasked Ava with fundraising for five families represented on the Angel Tree. She not only raised donations that matched the amount needed for those families’ utility bills, but she exceeded that goal—raising a total of $2,505.
“Ava fulfilled her obligation as a Leadership Council delegate, and then some,” Parr said. “She and her family can be extremely proud of her. At such a young age, she truly exemplifies the community spirit that electric cooperatives are all about, and she is a wonderful role model for all of us locally.”
CEC President and Chief Executive Officer Steven Harmon also expressed his gratitude to all those who supported the Angel Tree initiative.
“Having witnessed so much generosity from our community over the years, it’s almost hard to be surprised when people rally together to support one another like this, and yet I still am,” Harmon said. “Because the donations from the Angel Tree effort went directly to fellow members as bill credits, I greatly appreciate every single person who answered our call to be an angel to a fellow co-op member. You are amazing.”