We keep life moving for our communities

Supporting our veterans

Home and Honor Day For the past four years, our volunteers have come together for a day each fall to help refurbish housing for military veterans in North Chicago. It's the focus of our company's Home and Honor Day, which supports an affordable housing program run by the Community Action Project of Lake County. Volunteers dedicate time on the weekend to making homes energy efficient, painting, cleaning, landscaping and making general repairs to townhomes occupied by vets and their families.

Career development

YWCA of Lake County Our support for the Economic Empowerment Program provides job readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship education to individuals to help them become self-sufficient.

Educating students

Bess Bower Dunn Museum The Lake County Forest Preserve District's museum showcases the history of Lake County and features a 20-foot model of a Dryptosaurus, a dinosaur that roamed the area 67 million years ago. It also includes Native American artifacts, Civil War-era items and a reproduction of a one-room schoolhouse. Our funding goes towards the museum's education classroom used for school field trips, community meetings, public lectures and other educational programs.

Energizing Student Potential (ESP) program We have partnered with other area utilities and the National Energy Education Development (NEED) project to develop the future scientists and engineers of Illinois. ESP brings together standards-based classes for classroom or after-school programs for students in grades five through eight. The program provides tools for students and teachers to learn about and teach their communities about energy.

Waukegan Public Library Early Learning Center The library's Early Learning Center helps younger children develop fundamental learning skills needed to succeed in school. Students through second grade learn numbers, letters, colors and sight words in a themed exhibit that encourages play and imagination. In addition to ongoing support for the Early Learning Center, we provide funding for the library's Adult Literacy Center.

Super Savers Through a partnership with other local utilities, we provide an energy-efficiency curriculum and student materials for fifth graders at schools throughout the area. The Super Savers program teaches children how to save energy and includes a kit of energy-saving items to take home and work with their parents to install.

Waukegan Park District Being our home town, we support a couple park district initiatives, including SwimSmart swim lessons. These lessons are offered to Waukegan residents of all ages to increase their safety and comfort in the water while teaching swimming strokes and techniques. The other initiative is the creation of Corrine J. Rose Park, which is a transformation of an existing park into one with a number of new features. We are supporting the addition of seven large outdoor musical instruments, which are designed to attract every age and all will be accessible for kids. These instruments are meant to generate interest in music and support the district and community's robust cultural arts program.

Serving Those in Need

Mothers Trust Foundation Mothers Trust provides immediate assistance to low-income children in Lake County during times of crisis. Our support of the foundation funds the work with social workers and school counselors to help children and their families with tangible necessities, such as school uniforms and clothing, shoes, car seats, eyeglasses, summer camp fees, extracurricular expenses, and other items beyond reach for families struggling to make ends meet.

Angel Tree Program Every holiday season, our employees purchase and wrap gifts for children and adults in need. Our 2020 community partner was A Safe Place, an organization transforming lives after domestic violence and human trafficking in Lake County.

Rosalind Franklin University Health Clinics We fund the clinic's Community Care Connection, a mobile health vehicle that travels throughout Lake County offering a variety of free screenings. Due to COVID-19, they have pivoted and are offering COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.

Erie HealthReach Waukegan Health Center The center provides affordable health care and bilingual service in Waukegan, where a significant portion of residents speak Spanish. Dental services are also offered for children and expecting mothers.

United Way of Lake County's 211 program As key funders since United Way of Lake County developed this program, 211 is a free, confidential, 24-hour information and referral helpline connecting individuals and families in need with access to available health and human services.

Northern Illinois Food Bank Provides nutritious food and resources in 13 counties in northern Illinois. Our support of the organization helps them provide 250,000 meals a day through a network of nearly 1,000 volunteers.

Sustaining the Environment

Seven Generations Ahead This organization educates area students about waste reduction and helps schools increase recycling, eliminate waste sources and compost food scraps through its Zero Waste Schools program. The funding we provide goes toward curriculum development and a commercial composting initiative in participating schools. Through recycling, composting and food recovery, the schools divert roughly 85%of their waste from landfills.

Lake Forest Open Lands We support the Center for Conservation Leadership, which develops and empowers students to understand the importance of human interaction with the environment and to take responsibility for its preservation. The yearlong program combines environmental education, leadership training and community service.

Audubon Great Lakes We have provided funding for a collaboration with Audubon Great Lakes, Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group, and the Lake County Audubon Society to develop an elevated walkway and observation deck in Waukegan to increase visibility of the dune and wetland areas that have been remediated and restored from their past as an industrial site.

Economic development and programs

North Shore Gas Energy Efficiency Program The program offers incentives to encourage business customers to make energy-efficient improvements, and helps businesses reduce their energy use and shrink their carbon footprint with assistance from our energy efficiency experts. Roquette America, a manufacturing company in Gurnee, is one of the business customers that has benefited from the program. Rebates, programs and incentives are also available through the program for residential customers.

Supplier diversity Our Supplier Diversity Initiative is designed to increase access, procurement opportunities and use of minority-, women-, service disabled- and veteran-owned businesses through the purchase of products and services. By continuing these partnerships, we are sustaining our commitment to the economic growth and revitalization of Chicago's northern suburbs.

New businesses We are committed to supporting new businesses in Chicago's northern suburbs. We offer a variety of services to help them complete their construction plans. With 120 years of experience, we work to provide excellent customer service in promptly connecting new service facilities.