Downtown Employees Give From the Heart

A couple of weeks ago an elderly man walked into MLGW's downtown Community Office attempting to get his utilities turned back on with only $70 of his $387.53 bill. After speaking with a Credit Counselor and discovering that his minimum payment was $220 which was beyond his means, the customer immediately got emotional saying that he, his daughter, and grandchild, who has a heart condition, have been living in their home without air conditioning since July 31st.

The customer did receive a disability check, but not until the end of the month. However, the MLGW credit counselor offered to call CSA for the customer hoping they could provide immediate financial assistance. That particular day, CSA was accepting emergency calls only and the elderly customer would have to go through an interview process later that day. Since he was without a home phone, this was not a viable option.

MLGW's lead cashier and the two security officers on-duty consoled the emotionally distraught customer. The cashier expressed, “We see a lot of customers who come in and shower us with reasons why they can’t pay their bills, but occasionally there are customers who are genuinely experiencing hard times. My heart goes out to those customers.” The employees decided immediately that they would pay the customer’s remaining balance, $317.53.

The man was grateful, “I don’t care what anyone has to say about the company, you all are nice people.”