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Picture of Mrs. P with Brunswick Co-op employee Judy Gore
Picture of Mrs. P with Brunswick Co-op employee Judy Gore

Senior's Letter to the President Gets Results

Eighty-four year old Ms. Mildred L. Peadrick of Winnabow, NC, (Mrs. P) wrote President Bush asking how she could get some help with food, home repair and utility costs. Her neighbor assisted her in the writing since her handwriting was a bit shaky. The White House referred her letter to several agencies that might be able to help including the Rural Utilities Service. RUS contacted the local rural electric cooperative to check on the problem. Chip Leavitt, General Manager of Mrs. P's local co-op, Brunswick Electric Cooperative, called RUS Administrator Hilda Legg on December 12 to report Mrs. P was having serious financial problems. Her problems had not come to the Brunswick Cooperative’s attention because she had not missed a payment on her electric bill. Her gas for heat had been cut off and she had cancelled her phone service because she could not afford it. She had been getting $10 worth of food stamps but they had stopped for some reason. The Brunswick Cooperative has contacted the Social Services Agency for North Carolina and will work with them to make sure her problems are resolved. The Cooperative has told her to not worry about her electric bills while these problems are being worked out. Money has been raised from the Cooperative Board of Directors and employees to cover food costs. When the local Sheriff's office heard about Mrs. P they got into the act and took her food and warm house shoes. This serves as an example of the system working. A citizen spoke up to the highest level in the land. The request was fielded to the appropriate agency, which knew how to get the solution delivered locally. The solution came from the people at the co-op, those who know their community and its resources, and cared enough to make it happen. As President George W. Bush says, "When you help your neighbors you help your nation. Everyone can do something."


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