The impact of ISG employees on the Tampa area goes well beyond their presence at the TECO power plants. The employees, along with TECO, actively support the community every year through a variety of volunteer efforts.

Some of the recent beneficiaries of Zachry Care Team activities have included Tampa General Hospital’s Regional Burn Center, Anchor House Ministries, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, Junior Olympics and several elementary schools that have received school supplies. The Care Team also has donated welding hoods to shop classes at a local high school.

Another example of community outreach concerns the Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center in nearby Ruskin, Fla. This 160-acre nature preserve is a project of a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization and run entirely by volunteers. Its purpose is to sustain a portion of Florida’s original habitats in the Little Manatee River Watershed and to promote appreciation and better understanding of the area’s natural resources, local history and culture through education.

The center offers adult and children’s educational programs. It supports a Florida Master Naturalist Program, stages workshops for school teachers, and hosts visits by school children, scout troops and members of other community organizations.

Zachry and TECO volunteers partnered to enhance and refurbish several areas of the center. Volunteers assembled picnic tables and park benches, and installed signage for nature trails and the butterfly garden. They also provided loads of backfill, spreading soil to level off spots where erosion had occurred at the canoe launch, along several trails and at the park’s entrance.

Photo: ISG employees and their TECO counterparts at the Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center, a nature preserve that is an example of their ongoing community investment in the Tampa area.