Volunteer helps kids at North Elementary School

Submitted by Armando Tejada

It’s been more than 10 years since employees at Midwest Generation’s Waukegan Station began working with the United Way of Lake County to support the community through volunteerism.

Station Clerk Terri Thomas began volunteering with the North Elementary School last fall. The school was looking for volunteers to help at local schools with reading or tutoring, so Thomas signed up because it was a good way to give back to the community and help children develop and grow a love of reading. Thomas spends one hour each week reading to five children between 8 and 9 years old.

“It’s so rewarding to see the joy on the children’s faces every Monday when I walk into that classroom to read to them,” she said.

Thomas had previously joined her co-workers in other volunteer activities throughout the years, organizing classroom painting and other projects at local schools.

Last year’s biggest community project at the station was building a playground for the Waukegan Park District, which later recognized the station and employees with a volunteer award.

Midwest Generation Waukegan Station is one of four generating plants the company operates in Illinois. Waukegan Station has 142 employees and can generate 689 MW of electricity, enough power to meet the needs of about 689,000 homes.

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