HAILEY, ID — POWER Engineers, Incorporated (POWER) will donate half a million dollars to foodbanks in the U.S. and Canada over the next few months, a donation that turns a small disappointment into a lot of giving back.

Typically, POWER holds large company gatherings each winter to celebrate the anniversary of how the company’s first employees, their families, and the local community pulled together to help restart the firm after an office fire in 1977. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the parties were canceled in 2021, and POWER leadership determined that the best use of that budget would be to give it to the community.

“Since we won’t be sitting down together for a meal, we’re going to give meals to others,” said Jim Haynes, POWER’s President and CEO. “It’s a silver lining, being able to turn a disappointment into something good for our communities.”

More than 55 foodbanks in North America will receive donations, one in each community where POWER employees live and work.

This is the company’s largest philanthropic effort to date, though it is far from the only one — the firm regularly donates thousands of dollars a year to STEAM education through its foundation. POWER also donated more than $150,000 in 2020 to 45 local schools to meet pandemic-related needs, such as remote learning equipment and mental health support for students.

POWER Engineers is an engineering and environmental consulting firm specializing in integrated solutions for clients in the power delivery, power generation, food and beverage, government, renewables and storage, campus energy, and oil and gas industries. Founded in 1976, it is an employee-owned company with 45 offices and more than 3,000 employees across North America.