Helping Employees Make an Impact in their Communities

When Duke Energy’s Jamie Lynton and his wife planted some milkweed in their yard that attracted a few butterflies, it gave him an idea. Why not do this on a larger scale to offer a protected habitat for imperiled monarch butterflies as they migrate south?

He first organized a Duke Energy In Action Teams4Good volunteer event and rounded up co-workers to build the first monarch butterfly “waystation” at Lapping Park in Clarksville, Indiana. Lynton even helped Clarksville secure a $2,500 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation to pay for the plants and supplies.

A few months later, Clarksville Elementary School students returned to the waystation to release monarch butterflies and learn about their migration patterns and the dangers they face.

Teams4Good is part of the enhanced Duke Energy In Action program launched earlier in the year. Designed to empower employees and retirees to make a difference in the communities where they live and work, the program makes it easy for employees to volunteer their time and double their charitable contributions to the causes they’re passionate about.

Other opportunities include Dollars4Good, which matches eligible donations made by employees; Hours4Good, through which employees can earn company grants when they volunteer their time; and Relief4Employees, which allows employees to support co-workers in need.

The Duke Energy In Action program has been a hit in other areas of the Duke Energy territory. In Ohio, employees organized an Accounting for Kids Day to introduce financial literacy concepts to Cincinnati Public Schools students in a fun and interactive way. In North Carolina, employees at the Kings Mountain Generation Support Facility organized several volunteer events at the local Gateway Trail to create and maintain a butterfly garden. 

Learn more about the impact Duke Energy employees have on their communities in the 2016 Sustainability Report.