The tree is finally taken down. The confetti has been thrown. The leftovers are gone. But before we get on those New Year’s resolutions, we like to remember those parts of 2011 that really made a big impression.
So without further ado, here are our top 10 highlights of 2011:
10. Watching football
We do live in Texas, after all. From celebrating the Friday night lights with our Clash of the Cans competition to giving away tickets to the Red River Rivalry to taking some customers to the biggest game of them all, we enjoyed the games.
9. Eating yummy food
From our first-ever Texas Tamale Series to the National BBQ Cookoff in Meridian to Blizzards at the DQ in Nocona, we had some good eats this past year. And when we could we tied it in to raise donations for our Food First™ program.
8. Sending the Merlos family to Walt Disney World
Know what’s more fun than a spelling bee? Our Energy Bee. And not just because it was hosted by Gaby Natale from Super Latina. Contestants first answered trivia questions via text and finally faced off at a competition in our Lewisville office. In the end, the Merlos family was the big winner, walking away with an all-expense-paid trip for four to Walt Disney World.
7. Giving money to do-gooders
Sure, we sell electricity, but we also know the value of saving it. This year, we awarded more than $61,000 in Reduce Your Use Grants to schools and nonprofits. The grants give organizations money for purchasing energy efficient products that will help them use less electricity, so they can save more for the stuff that really matters to them.
6. Making Brad’s day
Nothing’s more fun that surprising someone with one of those goofy giant checks. In March, we awarded $10,000 to our customer Brad Senter who referred the most new customers as part of our Turn On A Friend program.
5. Scouting for the future
Spending time with Scouts makes you feel pretty good about kids today. This year, we partnered with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas with their College Journey program, as well as their 9.10.11 project. And we had a BBQ the Bay Area Council of Boy Scouts to raise money for Camp Karankawa.
4. Opening some awesome local offices
We’re real proud of the fact that we’re a local company with real storefronts customers can visit when they have a question. This year, we opened local offices in Nocona and Mission. Come in and see us!
3. Helping victims of the North Texas wildfires
While this summer’s terrible drought and resulting wildfires were one of the low points of 2011, we were glad to be able to do a small part to help the people who lost lives, homes and property in the fires.
2. Meeting our goal of donating 1 million meals
When we started our Food First™ program in May of 2010, we also started our Million Meals Challenge—wanting to donate 1 million meals to hungry people in Texas. In September, we finally reached our goal—and decided to start going for our second million meals.
1. Hearing from customers who love First Choice Power
There’s no question—what makes our year is taking care of customers, and nothing brings it home like compliments from the people who trust us to provide electricity for their homes. We love stories like the one from customer Belinda Rodriguez, who wrote on her blog about how much she loves First Choice Power. Hearing from happy customers is always the highlight for us.
Thanks for reading the blog and giving us your business! We’re sure grateful to have you as a customer. Have you got any big highlights from 2011? We’d love to hear them in the comments section. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Current blog—we’ve got lots of energy saving tips, Texas wisdoms and energy news planned for 2012, and you won’t want to miss it.
