Wheatland Electric Cooperative recently received recognition in the 2015 “Spotlight on Excellence” national awards program, sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Wheatland received a Gold Award in the Best Event Category for the Cram the Van food drive. Shawn Powelson, Manager of Member Services and Corporate Communications coordinated the award-winning event.
“The judges noted that electric cooperatives are being challenged to communicate to the people they serve in more ways than ever before,” said Carol Crabtree, administrator of Spotlight on Excellence. “Printed newsletters, news releases, websites, social media and videos, are all more important than ever to keep members updated.”
A special champagne reception honored the award recipients during the Connect ‘15 Conference held in Minneapolis, Minn. on May 12. Winning entries were displayed during the event.
“What an honor. The Spotlight award winners are the best of the best from cooperatives across the country. I’m very proud of our efforts and thrilled that Wheatland received an award for this great program.” said Bruce Mueller, General Manager of Wheatland.
The annual Spotlight awards competition recognizes the top-rated communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations. Participants in the awards competition competed with electric cooperatives of similar sizes in 16 categories. Electric cooperative communicators and marketing professionals submitted more than 780 entries in the Spotlight on Excellence program, now in its 27th year. Faculty members from the University of Missouri – Columbia, University of South Carolina and Ohio University Scripps-Howard School of Journalism judged the entries.
Wheatland’s Cram the Van event was held last September-October and consisted of eleven stops in ten different communities throughout Wheatland’s territory. The food drive featured a big red van, covered in “Cram the Van” decals, which Wheatland would bring to various community events. Wheatland challenged its members to help “Cram the Van with non-perishable food items for the local food bank and they were clearly up for the challenge! The food drive collected 6,615 pounds of food, nearly 3 ½ tons, for hungry people in Kansas.