Last Friday, April 26th, kickstarted with a display of community commitment as Pioneer Telephone Cooperative and Oklahoma Electrical Cooperative united for a hands-on service initiative.

Over 60 volunteers from Pioneer and OEC completed several projects in their communities of Newcastle and Blanchard. The Cooperative Clean-Up project was spearheaded by Pioneer Public Relation Specialist, Robin Fielder. This was an event two years in the making.

Volunteers from Pioneer Telephone Cooperative and Oklahoma Electric Cooperative met in the parking lot of the Newcastle Police Department for a group photo.

“At first, I had just planned to do a community clean up event where Pioneer partnered with our Parks and Recs directors. We had one planned last year, but we were rained out. Then, I just had an idea: what if we partnered with OEC?” Robin said. “It took some contact hopping, but I ended up getting in contact with Daniel Lofland [Energy Efficiency & Solutions Specialist at OEC] and we made it happen. I am so excited to see us come together to do so much good.”

Robin Fielder's initiative to collaborate outside of Pioneer reflects the very essence of what being a cooperative is all about—joining forces for the greater good.

Daniel, sharing this enthusiasm for cross-cooperative action, recognized the value in working together.

“As Cooperatives, we have guiding principles that include a dedication to our communities. We’re very happy to partner with another co-op to show communities that we’re here and we’re happy to support them,” Daniel said. “We know there’s some competition between our co-ops, but at the end of the day what really matters is our mutual effort to support the cooperative movement and our communities.”

Volunteers pulled weeds at Newcastle’s senior living community and cleaned up flowerbeds at the Newcastle Library, storm shelter, and Police department. They also beautified the entirety of Blanchard’s Main Street.

Pioneer employees clearing branches and debris for a woman in a Newcastle retirement community.

“This was a project that was supposed to take an entire afternoon but took less than three hours. That’s amazing. This shows what cooperatives can do when they come together for the good of communities,” Pioneer General Manager Blake Callaham said. “Cooperation among cooperatives is one of the seven cooperative principles. It was a pleasure to see it in action today.”

We look forward to working with OEC again soon!