A flood of generosity: The employees of MidAmerican Energy

Annette Horvath and her fellow coworkers at MidAmerican Energy in Davenport watched from their office windows as the Mississippi River rose to historic levels earlier this spring. Many employees either had friends and family—or were themselves—impacted by the flooding. “The reality really hit home when we saw the barriers break in downtown Davenport,” Horvath said.

Instead of standing on the sidelines, MidAmerican Energy employees sprang into action. “Our office is located near the river, and many businesses like ours were on alert. At the same time, we always look for opportunities to build a cohesive team and were already looking for something different to do together,” Horvath said. “When we heard MidAmerican would match employee donations to the flood recovery effort, we got inspired to hold a breakfast and bake sale with all proceeds supporting the Quad Cities Disaster Recovery Fund at the Quad Cities Community Foundation.”

MidAmerican Energy is an organization that both gives back to the communities that it serves and encourages its employees to get involved in the projects and issues that matter most to them as well. That’s why it was no surprise when what started as a nine-member team became a building-wide event. Over the course of seven short days, employees pulled together a fundraiser that included a breakfast, a bake sale, silent auction and a basket raffle. The goal was to raise as much money as possible, knowing that the MidAmerican Foundation would match their dollars.  

“It went better than we ever could have expected,” Horvath said, being quick to give credits to her fellow coworkers who put in extra time to pull off the fundraiser. “The level of generosity and involvement exceeded our expectations.” 

It wasn’t just staff members who donated to the event. MidAmerican Quality Coordinator Melissa Rogers and her mother Debbie were instrumental in working with Hy-Vee to donate an entire carload of bakery items. Quality Coordinator Davia Love’s grandfather David Barajas of Dave’s Coffee Cakes donated items for the silent auction. The list could go on and on.

The employees raised nearly $4,000 to support the Quad Cities Disaster Recovery Fund, and MidAmerican Energy added another $25,000 from their corporate foundation. “This was an extraordinary act of generosity,” said Sherry Ristau, president and CEO of the Quad Cities Community Foundation. “When we learned of the financial gift, we were in awe. We were equally in awe of the work that so many people put into making the gift happen. Annette and the employees at MidAmerican truly represent what is best about our community.”  

Horvath said that the generosity she witnessed in her office only reinforces to her how wonderful it is to live and work in the Quad Cities. “Who wouldn’t want to be part of a place that comes together when there is a crisis? We all need support at some point. We were raised to be ‘Iowa and Illinois-nice.’ This was one way we could live that out.”