One Dollar Makes a Difference

Today's Commercial Appeal has an editorial on the shrinking number of donations to MLGW's Plus-1 Program.

Plus-1 is a program administered by the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) to pay utility services for people in need. MLGW customers fund the program through one-time donations or by adding a dollar or more to their utility bill each month. Since its inception in 1982, Plus-1 has provided millions of dollars in assistance to families in crisis in Memphis and Shelby County.

MLGW employees give over $20,000 a year to Plus-1. In addition, MLGW donated $25,000 in excess revenue from our pole rentals to Plus-1 in 2008, and hopes to do the same this year.

Generosity dimming

With bankruptcies and joblessness on the rise, it's little wonder that at Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division accountants are writing off more and more bad debt.

Last year the figure leaped 31 percent to a total of $15.3 million, which was nearly triple the amount in 2003.

What's not quite as clear is the reason behind a steady decline in contributions to the utility's Plus One program since 2001.

That year MLGW customers contributed more than $295,000 to the program, which helps low-income customers pay their utility bills, by adding $1 or more to their monthly payments.

Every year since, the number has declined, falling to $196,351 in 2008, down $12,869 from the 2007 figure. With 420,000 customers, that works out to less than four bits apiece per year in a city that has a reputation in the philanthropic community for its generosity.

Last year MLGW disconnected utilities more than 100,000 times for nonpayment. No doubt that number will increase this year, unless collections from the Plus One program, administered by the Metropolitan Interfaith Association, increase dramatically.

It's important to remember that thousands of MLGW customers are suffering through the recession to the extent that they are barely able to pay their own utility bill, much less contribute to someone else's.

In January, 37,270 people were looking for work in Shelby County, which has the state's highest jobless rate. But for those of us who are not in that boat, it's time to sign up for Plus One.

Sign Up online!