Central Florida Community Breadbasket receives $3,000 donation from FMPA, KUA and Zachry

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 11, 2009 – Three organizations partnering to build a power plant in Osceola County donated $3,000 to a local food bank to brighten the holidays for the hungry.

The donation will support Central Florida Community Breadbasket’s mission of assisting more than 1,200 needy families per day in Osceola, Orange and Polk counties.

“The Community Breadbasket is a perfect example of neighbors helping neighbors, a value that Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) and its partners firmly believe in,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Nicholas P. Guarriello. “We hope this donation will brighten the holidays for those in need in our community.”

“This contribution by Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) and its partners will go a long way in helping needy families, especially during these difficult times when so many are struggling to meet basic needs,” said KUA President & General Manager Jim Welsh. “We are happy to help and we hope that no one goes hungry this holiday season and beyond.”

“The concept of giving something back has guided Zachry’s community involvement for more than eight decades,” said Zachry Industrial Incorporated Manager of Community Relations Janet Jackson. “At Zachry, our desire is to improve the quality of life in the communities where our employees and their families live and work. It is with honor and pleasure that we present our check to the Community Breadbasket.”

The co-owners of the Cane Island Power Park, FMPA and KUA, as well as the construction contractor for the Cane Island Unit 4 project, Zachry Industrial Incorporated, have made giving back to the community an important part of this construction project. Members of the construction team participated in the Susan G. Komen Foundation Race for the Cure in October. They also conducted a school supply drive, donating nearly 5,000 items to Reedy Creek Elementary. The project recently joined the Adopt-a-Highway program, and volunteers completed their first highway clean-up Dec. 5. Finally, employees of the project conducted a holiday food drive and donated more than 2,000 items to the Community Breadbasket. FMPA, KUA and Zachry and their employees also participate in a variety of charitable giving projects in their own communities throughout the year.

Charitable donations and volunteerism are not the only way FMPA, KUA and Zachry plan to make a difference in the community. Construction of the new natural gas fueled power generator, known as Cane Island Unit 4, will create up to 300 jobs at peak employment, with wages totaling more than $42 million. Spending on construction will also benefit the local and regional economies and indirectly create more than 300 additional jobs in the region. Earnings indirectly created by the construction are projected to total more than $35 million. To learn more about the project, visit caneisland.fmpa.com or call the project’s telephone hotline at (321) 239-1034.

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Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 30 municipal electric utilities. FMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of FMPA serve approximately 2 million Floridians. FMPA’s members are Alachua, Bartow, Blountstown, Bushnell, Chattahoochee, Clewiston, Fort Meade, Fort Pierce, Gainesville, Green Cove Springs, Havana, Homestead, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Kissimmee, Lake Worth, Lakeland, Leesburg, Moore Haven, Mount Dora, New Smyrna Beach, Newberry, Ocala, Orlando, Quincy, St. Cloud, Starke, Vero Beach, Wauchula and Williston.