Above: Darrin Keehn, line foreman at Kankakee Valley REMC, adds the mailbox numbers to the reflective signs installed as part of KV REMC’s Community Day project.

The last time you ventured out to a location you hadn’t been before you probably entered the address into your smart phone or your car’s navigation system. Not knowing the area, you probably took the drive a little slower the closer you got, anticipating your navigation to tell you when you arrived at your destination.

When emergency personnel need to find a location, they too might use navigation. What they also rely on is the visible house numbers on a mailbox.

Your cooperative employees use much the same technology when they travel the rural roads to restore power or to do daily maintenance. Much like the emergency personnel, they verify they are at the right location by looking at the mailbox numbers. Often, though, mailboxes aren’t marked. Unmarked mailboxes add a few extra minutes when we respond to an outage, but these are crucial minutes for a first responder.

At right, Darrell Marks, energy advisor, installs a reflective mailbox sign for a KV REMC member-consumer.

KV REMC’s commitment to the community is far more than providing safe and reliable electricity. It also means giving back through our time and skills. On Oct. 12, your cooperative employees spent the day giving back to the community and helping the local first responders.

Through Indiana’s Electric Cooperatives Community Day, co-
operatives across the state spent the day serving their community and membership.

As a service to our member-consumers, Kankakee Valley REMC employees made and installed free reflective mailbox signs for members located in Boone, Porter, Pleasant and Morgan townships. Signs were hung on mailboxes or nearby fence posts. In one day, KV REMC employees installed 350 signs.

This project has become an annual one, allowing the employees to work through all counties served by the cooperative until everyone has been offered a sign.