Twenty-five days ago, RECORE’s Director of Operations Glen Presson got a call that would end this year on a warm note. The caller, Lynwood Greene, an Army veteran, was worried beyond belief about his wife and her dialysis treatments. As if 2020 hadn’t been hard enough, the winter season is now fast approaching, and Mr. Greene felt an enormous pressure mounting: If the power went out in rural Southampton, his wife Vanessa wouldn’t survive.
Mrs. Vanessa Greene is on daily dialysis, a treatment that takes over the work that your kidneys do to flush waste products and excess fluids from your blood. Healthy kidneys do this work for you. The COVID19 pandemic forced Mrs. Greene to do her treatments at home, and her husband was eager to learn the ins and outs of treatments and ways to mitigate any dangers that may come their way. “She is the love of my life, and I would do anything for her,” said Mr. Greene. He’s been her caregiver and does her daily treatments. The rise in COVID cases across the country is already a concern, and as cold weather approaches, Mr. Greene is terrified that Mrs. Greene won’t be able to get the treatments she has to have. Mrs. Greene needs the help of machines, and machines need power.
Mr. Greene initially looked into options for backup power that a standby generator provides. The complexities of dialysis treatments are delicate. If Mrs. Greene has already started her treatment, and there was a power loss, it will lead to a dangerous and likely deadly scenario. Mr. Greene has been a long time customer of CEC, and reached out regarding a whole home generator to avoid any power loss situations. Under normal circumstances, installation of a whole home generator system is complex and lengthy process. The COVID19 pandemic has created challenges across the supply chain, and RECORE has a lead time for customers that lasts several months. Mrs. Greene couldn’t wait that long, so when he had a system ready for install, Mr. Presson went to work.
The first call went to a RECORE customer. Mrs. Bailey was waiting for her own whole home generator, and without her, this story has no happy ending. When approached by Mr. Presson, Ms. Bailey gladly and willingly gave up her place in the proverbial waiting line for her system. She was unequivocally moved by the hardships that her neighbors—unknown to her—were now experiencing, and she was eager to help. “If it helps someone in need, I am glad to do it,” said Mrs. Bailey. Mrs. Bailey will still get her whole home system, but she’ll have to wait much longer than planned. She said her husband Paul used to bring out a portable generator for them if the power went out. Since his death, that process is entirely too overwhelming for Mrs. Bailey to undertake, and a whole home system was her answer. “Paul wouldn’t have thought twice about waiting a bit longer,” said Mrs. Bailey. RECORE confirmed that while Mrs. Bailey will still get her system, she will have to continue her wait.
The Greene’s are paying for this system out of pocket, so the RECORE team reached out to Electel, who provided financing to the Greene’s within twenty-four hours. Amerigas expedited their process to move the Greene’s work order to a priority level, and Territory Sales Representative Deveda Boone was instrumental in making that happen. Briggs and Stratton’s corporate office, with the assistance from Mr. Jesse Fuller, came through with hardware and the system switch in record time. And Southampton County also advanced the electrical and mechanical permitting so that work could begin immediately. A project that usually takes 18 weeks will wrap up next week after 21 days, and Mr. Greene will be able to breathe easy about his whole home power.
“We have had the unique privilege in providing services to amazing customers like the Bailey and Greene families, and I am humbled by the generosity that Mrs. Bailey showed to her neighbor,” said RECORE CEO Steve Harmon. He went on to say that it was because of “loyal and knowledgeable employees like Glen Presson that situations like the Greene family faced have such inspiring outcomes.” RECORE specializes in standby emergency power generation and has several solutions available to make energy supply resilient.
“After all, it is our specialty to create customized solutions for our customers.” Said Presson.
Finding a willing participant to give up their place in line was a huge step in the right direction, and Mr. Presson acknowledges that without the generosity and giving spirit that Mrs. Bailey showed, he would still be at square one. That abundant and giving spirit was carried on through the actions of Electel, Amerigas, Briggs and Stratton, and Southampton County. This holiday season, there is more than enough warmth to go around.