Hahira Middle delivers thank you letters to Georgia Power linemen
Sep. 12—VALDOSTA — Gratitude goes a long way when you risk your life everyday to serve communities in need. That's what a small group of Hahira Middle School students exhibited early Tuesday morning while delivering letters to Georgia Power linemen.
"It was the worst storm we've ever had, just total destruction," Jamie Wrye, the local Georgia Power supervisor, and Josh Day, a Georgia Power troubleman, said in an interview Tuesday.
Linemen from Georgia Power, its sister company Mississippi Power and other neighboring states and counties joined forces to restore power to those who lost power during Hurricane Idalia's landfall. Wrye and Day said they began prepping for the storm a few days prior to its forecasted arrival. The company had about 500 poles broken and over 1,800 lines downed due to the storm.
The students penned more than 120 letters to several electric companies, but Georgia Power the most letters. The project was first introduced during a meeting when the faculty and staff returned to school on Sept. 5, according to Hahira Middle School Principal Ivy Smith. The next day the students began their letters.
"It was truly interesting to see the students pour their hearts into the wording, time and efforts into these letters. They were truly thankful," she said.
Marissa Strother and Sidnee Slaughter, eighth-graders, were two out of four students who read their thank-you letters to the electricians Tuesday morning. They said the most important part of their letters they wanted the linemen to understand was that they were genuinely grateful for their help during the storm.
The two students' families were just a portion of thousands of households that were without power — and some were without water too because their wells are powered by electricity. Although her home is powered through Colquitt EMC, Strother said in her letter that she felt moved when seeing the Georgia Power crews working around her neighborhood.
Strother and Slaughter believe reading their letters to the linemen really helped them recognize that their work is meaningful.
The men fully received the student's words.
The students' letters really showed their appreciation and meant a lot when working 16 hour shifts with little rest time, Wyre and Day said. They also felt the same when approached by customers offering bottled waters and sharing their gratitude.
To those still affected by the storm the men said, "Please try to be as patient as you can. We're working as safely and as quickly as we can to restore your power. We want to return home just as we came. A thank you really does go a long way."
