PECO is Pennsylvania‘s largest supplier of electricity and natural gas in the Southeastern region, supplying Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. PECO, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, is one of the largest electric companies in the nation. PECO employees were at the Access Center on a Monday morning in April, putting together and distributing bags of groceries, doing lawn care and outdoor cleanup, repairing the lawn mower, and more.
PECO’s Volunteer Day of Service is an annual event, with sixty events occurring throughout the southeastern region of Pennsylvania since the beginning of April, with more to come. This was the third year PECO volunteers had come to the Access Center.
“PECO is here today to give back to the community. They’re fixing equipment and other amazing things around the Center. Anyone can have a downfall in life and need the services that they provide here. We’re happy to be here and support their efforts,” said PECO Spokesperson Izamarie Camacho.
The Center’s daily operations are facilitated by two nuns of the Catholic faith, Sr. Cathy McGowan, SSJ, and Sr. Maggie Gannon, OSF, who are present daily to see to the needs of the underserved community in the City of Chester and the surrounding areas. Supported by a team of forty dedicated volunteers, McGowan and Gannon manage to provide services to everyone who visits the Center, distributing bags of groceries on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hot lunches are available on Tuesday and Thursday, along with varied activities in the afternoon such as NA and AA meetings, English classes, crocheting and sewing classes, Tai Chi, grief support groups, daily breakfast (from 9 to 11 am), and shower and laundry facilities.
“In the forty years that we’ve been in Chester, PECO has always stepped up to financially support us, but equally important was the blessing of the people that work at PECO who have come and given us service every year. They ask us what is needed, and they fulfill every aspect of those needs. They always show up. A few months ago, the flag broke out front, and we were unable to get it back up on the pole. PECO sent a cherry picker out and righted the flag on the pole,” said Sr. Cathy McGowan, SSJ.
“It doesn’t get mentioned nearly enough, but Jack Sturgeon is the reason the Access Center exists and why we’re here. He said he’d get us a community center if we would work there, and here we are. PECO shows up in Chester,” remarked Sr. Maggie Gannon, OSF.
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