Dominion Energy continues to give back to the community through an employee-led nonprofit.

On Dec. 7, Dominion Energy and Good Neighbor Fund employees along with volunteers gathered at Dominion Energy South Carolina headquarters in Cayce to fill bags with food and deliver gifts across the state. A press release states that over 450 food baskets and 430 toys funded through employee donations were distributed across the Midlands.

A room was packed with food, gifts and volunteers, ready to prepare the goods for delivery. Annette Burnette, fleet services business manager for Dominion, spearheaded the morning’s operation, while volunteer Leesa Stout, also part of Dominion’s human resources staff, led everyone in a warm-up stretch.

The employee-led fund was established in 1982 to provide assistance to families in need.

“We cannot do this without you,” Burnette said to those in attendance. “I'm just always inspired and just so grateful for seeing all of you.”

“I think about it from the standpoint of we're all blessed, we're able to buy presents for our family and our friends, we’re able to enjoy the holidays with our family and friends,” she added. “But for a lot of these families Christmas time is just really a reminder of the challenges that they face in their life.”

About 200 volunteers joined the assembly line, filling bags with canned goods, potatoes, yams, rice, oranges and more. Once all the food was parceled out, volunteers began to deliver the goods and gifts to spots as far as Aiken and Myrtle Beach.

Burnette told the Chronicle that this Christmas effort is the fund’s core project each year, adding that it means a lot to work for a company that allows you to see people in need and help solve some of their problems.

Dominion employee Javier Santos detailed the role he played in connecting the Good Neighbor Fund and people in need. He told the Chronicle that growing up in Puerto Rico he experienced not always having food or knowing where their next meal was coming from.

“So now coming full circle, being able to provide others with the assistance that they need to know that food is coming is the most important thing,” Santos said. “It's the best thing, that's literally what the holiday season is about, is giving.”

Stout said this is her first time volunteering for the nonprofit, adding that she was talking with a co-worker who mentioned the project to her. She ended up signing up to help and doing a good bit of shopping herself for the cause.

“We kind of just cleared the sporting goods section,” Stout said of her experience shopping for boys between 11 and 13.

“It just feels good to give back to the community and to work for the company that supports it,” she added.