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A legacy of service
Women Involved in Rural Electrification (WIRE) celebrates 40 years of empowering co-op communities.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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WIRE in action
The ladies of Women Involved in Rural Electrification (WIRE) are a blur of activity as they pack bags for the Kids Closet initiative. Filled with toiletries and other essentials, the bags are distributed through the school system to needy kids in co-op-served communities.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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A 40-year legacy of service
WIRE had established itself as a force for good in the Palmetto State when the ladies paused (briefly) to celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary in 1991.
Its impact is as close as your home and as far-reaching as Washington, D.C. Its projects have benefited terminally ill children, families in crisis, homebound elderly and many others in between. Its existence has provided opportunities for women and proven the value of female leaders in the cooperative movement.
For 40 years, Women Involved in Rural Electrification (WIRE) has been supporting South Carolina electric cooperatives, their members and the communities they serve.
The seeds of the organization were planted by an outgoing general manager of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC), Bob Bennett, who directed the association from 1950–1980. According to Ann Wasson, whose husband, David, is CEO of Laurens Electric, Bennett wanted a group of female representatives from each cooperative to spread the cooperative message in their communities.
“It brought us all together in a way that we recognized who we are as a cooperative family,” says Wasson, the organization’s first president. “It gave us an opportunity to have a voice.”
If Bennett did the sowing to sprout the new organization, his successor at the statewide association, Al Ballard, and his wife, Jenny Ballard, provided the nourishment for it to flourish. The Ballards were already known as a philanthropic power couple from a prior stint with ECSC in the early 1970s. Upon their return, they immediately encouraged community outreach from the women’s group.
“He and Jenny thrived on projects that helped others,” recounts Judy Weaver, a member of the ECSC staff at the time. “They wanted all the cooperatives and particularly the women to be involved in things like that.”
After formally organizing in March 1981, WIRE got its name and apropos acronym from a submission contest in South Carolina Living magazine. Submitted by Blue Ridge Electric member Lisa Harrison, the name perfectly depicted the organization’s objective to connect South Carolina cooperatives to their communities through outreach, information and grassroots advocacy.
With a name, a logo and bylaws in place by the end of the first year, WIRE soon began fundraising with quilt, bake and craft sales. Some of those funds helped sponsor a new scholarship for one of South Carolina’s Youth Tourists. That scholarship—now named the Jenny Ballard Opportunity Scholarship—would evolve to provide financial support for women returning to college.
One of the most successful early WIRE projects was a cookbook featuring member recipes that had been published in South Carolina Living. Under the direction of WIRE president Joan Bruce of Coastal Electric, Best of Cook’s Corner sold 12,500 copies, leading to the publication of two additional volumes.
The nearly $40,000 raised from the cookbook sales allowed WIRE to make an impact across the state. The organization sponsored the Governor’s Statewide Rural Development Leaders School and the S.C. Food Resources Conference. WIRE also assisted tornado victims, the state literacy program, children’s hospitals and food banks.
Following the success of the cookbooks, WIRE commissioned South Carolina artist and Denmark native Jim Harrison to commemorate the 50th anniversary of rural electrification with a distinctive farmhouse scene. Sales of those prints raised over $62,000.
In addition to the fundraising and service projects, WIRE established itself as a strong grassroots advocacy organization. WIRE members wrote letters to South Carolina’s congressional delegation, encouraging their support of crucial issues impacting electric cooperatives and their members.
“At the beginning, we fought the stigma of being the organization that put pretty flowers on the table,” says Jan Bonnette, an employee of Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative and a past president of WIRE. “But we proved ourselves to be a substantial part of cooperatives, and that political advocacy was a big factor in changing that perception.”
It didn’t hurt that they were also being noticed beyond the state’s borders. WIRE won three national cooperative honors in its first seven years of existence. The successes led to increased membership in the statewide organization and the birth of local chapters throughout the state. During her tenure as president from 1984–85, Bonnette visited local cooperatives, encouraging them to start their own chapters, which allowed for more involvement from cooperative members and a greater impact in those communities.
“The statewide chapter of WIRE gave strength to the local cooperatives to begin their own chapter,” Bonnette contends. “Those chapters not only did a lot of good in their communities; they also created a lot of women leaders.”
Jan Baxter, who retired in 2015 as Palmetto Electric’s manager of economic development, served as president of the statewide organization and led one of the first local WIRE chapters. She says her gender was not a professional obstacle at Palmetto Electric, but her experience with WIRE provided necessary credibility in her community.
“When I took over economic development, I was the only woman in those rooms,” says Baxter. “But they knew about WIRE and what we were doing in the community. It absolutely was beneficial to me in that role.”
Although Palmetto Electric’s local chapter was one of the first and fastest to grow—it currently boasts over 200 members—it is certainly not the only one still thriving. Chapters at cooperatives across the state are helping their neighbors with college scholarships, donations to local charities and volunteer initiatives. They provide emergency assistance to families suffering after house fires or other catastrophes.
The same can be said about the statewide WIRE organization, which has carried out the legacy of a commitment to community. In addition to the Jenny Ballard Opportunity Scholarship, WIRE members annually pack bags of personal hygiene items for homeless teens. They also provide essential products for displaced residents at the state’s long-term care facilities.
“We’re people helping people,” says Peggy Dantzler, ECSC’s vice president of safety and loss control and the statewide WIRE liaison. “It’s all about service to our co-ops, service to our members and service to whomever you are trying to help.”
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