(Northeast, Pa.) – Energy Employees of companies that support the natural gas industry wanted to ensure there were gifts under the tree for families who are struggling. For more than a decade, Coterra Energy has coordinated a shopping trip in support of efforts by Susquehanna County Interfaith, Interfaith Friends, which serves Wyoming County, and the Wayne County Children’s Christmas Bureau.
Coterra and its industry partners spent more than $20,000 at Walmart in Tunkhannock, Pa., with carts overflowing with toys, clothing and other gift items, then a crew outside the store loaded them into a trailer.
“There’s probably nothing better than putting a smile on a kid’s face,” said Matt Sheruda, of Down to Earth Equipment Rentals of Montrose. “It’s a great feeling to have the opportunity to give back to the community this way.”
“It makes me feel good,” Shawn Jagger, of RLE Enterprises, concurred. “I actually asked this year if I could do it.”
Rebecca Peterson, of Folsom Engineering, also had a combination of clothing and toys in her cart, including several Squishmallows. “That is ‘the’ gift this year,” Peterson said assuredly.
The annual shopping trip is coordinated by Bonnie Morris, of Coterra, and Cindy Beeman, executive director of Susquehanna County Interfaith. The trailer returned to Coterra’s headquarters in Dimock, where employees matched the purchased gifts with tags supplied by the partnering organizations representing actual requests from children and other family members.
The number of children registered for the holiday initiative often tops 800 and includes 150 to 200 families. That figure increased during the pandemic and has remained consistent with the high inflation that followed. The Christmas gift program takes a big burden off parents who want their children to have a happy holiday.
One might think all children care about at Christmas is toys, but that is not the case – especially in recent years. In addition to art and school supplies, youths ask for clothing, bedding, and sweatshirts. “Things that keep them warm,” said Beeman, noting that high school students increasingly put more practical items on their wish lists. One teenage boy asked for tools to work on his car.
In addition to the aforementioned, participants in the shopping initiative included Moody & Associates, United Drilling, Rain For Rent, Resource Environmental, Ampro, Northern Tier Industry Education & Consortium, Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Western Environmental, C2G, Select Energy, and GasSearch Drilling Services, a subsidiary of Coterra. Walmart supports Interfaith throughout the year, including the agency’s Back to School program.
Additional support for Interfaith from Chesapeake Energy, Southwestern Energy, Dandy Mini Marts, and PennDOT helps close the gap on holiday and winter needs like socks and pajamas, food, and gas cards. Many churches, groups and individuals also contribute funds toward gifts and other winter needs.
“It’s not so much that there are more people that we are serving,” said Beeman. “But we are able to go deeper to help break the cycle of poverty.”
After they were wrapped, tagged, and delivered to the agencies’ offices, the gifts were distributed by December 25 to put them under the tree for Christmas morning.
