A friendly competition among employees at the Hamlet Progress Energy plant paid off big for non-profit New Horizons Life and Family Services and its effort to open the only domestic violence shelter in the county.

The plant’s 47 employees divided up into four teams and raised a total of nearly two tons of food for residents of the shelter. They will begin moving in next week.

“We selected ... giving (to) New Horizons, and then began our food drive,” Plant Manager Cecil Gurganus said. “We raised almost two tons of food, and for our day of caring we went out and did some landscaping and facility upgrades for the shelter. We’ve really been trying to engage our employees in the community because they believe in the things going on in the community and this is one way we did that.”

“Our staff also made a lot of sacrifices to get the shelter reopened, and we are so grateful that Progress Energy has assisted us with the reopening,” said New Horizons Board of Directors Chairwoman Nancy Boling. “They’ve assured us they will continue to provide services, and we really are just so grateful to them for doing this.”

New Horizons Executive Director Crystal McLendon explained the New Horizons Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence closed in October 2008 for lack of funding, and without community involvement this shelter could meet the same fate. It is the only such shelter in the county.

“It’s very crucial for the community to become involved in maintaining this shelter, either through monetary donations or in-kind donations,” she said. “We welcome volunteers, and this is definitely a community effort. We’re very excited about being able to offer these services, but we are a non-profit agency that is dependent on the community, and we are a United Way agency.”

The drive began on June 25, with the goal of raising 500 pounds of food. They ended the drive with 3,857 pounds.

Team leader Jeff Ruest explained there was a feeling among employees they were fortunate to have a good job in a tough economy, and decided to put their money together to share the wealth with others in Richmond County.

“We made four trips to Wal-Mart,” he said of his team.

“It’s just nice that we work for such a good, stable company,” team leader Alvin Byrd said. “We wouldn’t be able to give back to the community like this if we didn’t.”

For employee Ken Dann, the project hit a little closer to home. He has a sister-in-law who was the victim of domestic violence, and used a shelter to help her get away from it.

“She had a lot of help and support from her family,” Dann said. “We went and picked her up a couple of times, and I just wanted to be able to help someone else get out of a situation like that if I could.”

The food should go a long way, according to McLendon.

“It should last about six months,” she said.

She said the residents of the shelter will be gaining a new lease in life, thanks in part to the employees of the power plant.

“We have had clients in the past who have used our facilities and have reentered the community successfully,” McLendon said. “We look forward to having that opportunity again, thanks to these folks.”

New Horizons Outreach Coordinator Karen Bostick made an observation about the Progress conference room where all the food was stored.

“This the only place besides the grocery store you see this much food,” she said.

Progress employee Matt Dineen said that while the competitiveness among employees helped the food drive to collect more, the only true winner doesn’t work for Progress Energy.

“That was something I said when we first started out with this,” Dineen said. “In the end, it doesn’t matter who wins. We made it a friendly competition at the plant, but in the end New Horizons and the people who will stay at the shelter are the winners.”

Victims of domestic violence can call a 24-hour New Horizons crisis line at (910) 997-4840.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.