Generosity of spirit. It is a core value that guides our business and personal decisions at AGL Resources, as we strive to support and encourage individual and corporate efforts to give back to the communities we live in and serve. Financial contributions are nice, but we also believe that giving our time and effort truly reflects the spirit of the gift.

We encourage you to read about some recent employee activities that epitomized “generosity of spirit” and helped to make a positive, lasting impact in the communities that we call home.

For V-Force volunteers from AGL Resources and Atlanta Gas Light, summer 2009 marked the completion of their 12th Habitat for Humanity house.

For Dorothy Favors, it marked the fulfillment of a dream.

“Thank you all for helping me to realize my dream of owning a home,” the proud homeowner told volunteers. “Any time you are in the neighborhood, please stop by for a burger that I will happily cook on my new gas grill” – a gift from Atlanta Gas Light.

For seven weeks, more than 90 V-Force volunteers along with Equifax employees worked side-by-side with Favors and her family to build the new home.

“Our company’s long-time partnership with Habitat for Humanity proudly continues as employees are eager take part in the effort to build affordable housing for families,” said Jodie Huiet, V-Force specialist. “It is gratifying to write a check for a good cause, but it is even more rewarding to give your time and see the positive results of your efforts such as providing a beautiful home for a deserving family.”

The flame of volunteerism burns strong at Georgia Natural Gas, where employees were honored in 2009 for with their second consecutive Torch Award for Community Service from the Better Business Bureau serving Metro Atlanta, Athens and Northeast Georgia.

The Torch Award recognizes companies that have earned public trust in such areas as customer service, community service and marketplace ethics. According to local BBB officials, GNG is the first company in the 11-to-99-employees category to receive the Torch Award in consecutive years.

In the seven years since Georgia Natural Gas implemented its community service program, the company’s employees have made a significant difference in the lives of Georgia citizens through volunteerism.

GNG’s TrueBlue Crew of employee volunteers – whose motto is “Working Together, Serving Together” – volunteer at dozens of events throughout the year and serve as tutors at Atlanta-based Centennial Place Elementary School.

GNG is Georgia’s leading natural gas provider and part of SouthStar Energy Services, a joint venture that includes majority owner AGL Resources.

In spring 2009, AGL Resources and Atlanta Gas Light employees completed another successful year of participation in the Junior Achievement (JA) program at Parkside Elementary School.

For five weeks, 47 V-Force volunteers visited the Atlanta school and served up a JA-structured curriculum designed to prepare young people for future success with hands-on, experiential programs that teach the key concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

“It is amazing how much of a difference a person can make in the lives of these children by giving a very small amount of their time to participate in the JA program,” said Drew Evans, AGL Resources executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We were able to work with 30 Parkside classes, touching more than 600 students. We showed these students how much our company cares about them, their school and – most importantly – their education!”

To celebrate the conclusion of the program and thank the students for their participation, employee volunteers served up the children’s favorite treat – ice cream, complete with caramel, sprinkles and whipped cream toppings.

A special ceremony to relight the eternal flame that burns at the King Center, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was laid to rest, took place on April 4, 2009 – the 41st anniversary of his assassination. The flame symbolizes the continuing effort to realize his ideals for “the beloved community.”

King’s children, Bernice King and Martin L. King III, lit the flame during a ceremony attended by local and international dignitaries and delighted tourists who happened to be visiting the center.

Atlanta Gas Light donated the original gas flame near King’s marble crypt 40 years ago, and when it came time to redesign and refurbish the flame, AGL again stepped forward.

“Forty years ago, the technology wasn't quite what it is today,” said AGL President Suzanne Sitherwood. “With the new technology, the flame will burn bigger and it will burn brighter, and we think that's quite appropriate for Dr. King and his legacy.”

Sequent Energy Management is in the business of asset management and optimization, so it was perfectly fitting that the company made a significant investment in one of the greatest assets of all: children. Its $20,000 donation to DePelchin Children’s Center in Houston will help to educate dozens of children in its residential and foster programs.

“DePelchin Children’s Center represents a truly wonderful group of people striving to make the lives of the most unfortunate children better and ultimately guiding them to become productive adults,” said Elisabeth Evans, Sequent’s vice president of Human Resources and Administrative Services.

DePelchin Children’s Center has been serving the children and families of the Houston area since 1892, when Kezia Payne DePelchin established a shelter for orphaned children. Today, DePelchin Children's Center serves more than 26,000 children and family members annually through 30 programs, including adoption, foster care and counseling services.

A television news story about an 80-year-old south Florida resident with a broken stove had all the ingredients for a happy ending after Florida City Gas became involved.

Florida City Gas General Manager Melvin Williams learned about Edna Priestley’s plight, which was featured in February 2009 on WPLG-TV’s “Care Force” segment. Priestley, who loves to cook but is on a limited retirement income, appealed to Miami-area viewers for help in repairing her malfunctioning stove.

Williams did better than that: He arranged for Priestley to get a new gas stove courtesy of Elite Gas Contractor, an FCG vendor. Florida City Gas, in turn, donated a range hood.

“We are glad that we were able to help someone in need,” Williams said.

“I think this a great example of the caring spirit and teamwork I see every day demonstrated by our employees and our business partners,” added Jay Sutton, vice president, engineering services and supply chain. “It is a great story with a happy ending.”

The “coolest” event in the state – the annual Polar Plunge in February – raised more than $853,000 for Special Olympics Virginia in 2009. Virginia Natural Gas, an event supporter since 2000, led the way in making it a success.

The 2009 Polar Plunge took place in Virginia Beach, where 3,270 thrill-seekers braved the chilly Atlantic Ocean wearing nothing but swimsuits and zany costumes. Ninety participants were employees, friends and family of VNG. They raised more than $23,000, and the AGL Resources Private Foundation donated another $15,000.

VNG received three first-place awards for having the largest team, raising the most money and raising the most money online in the 2009 Extreme Team Online Fundraising Challenge. By raising $19,971.50 online, VNG received $5,000 in office furniture from another sponsor, which the company then donated to the Special Olympics office.

It was only natural that AGL Resources V-Force volunteers were celebrating Earth Day with projects that ranged from teaching children about recycling and conservation to cleaning up trash. After all, natural gas is the cleanest-burning, most energy-efficient fossil fuel and a vital component of a sustainable U.S. economy.

Earth Day was established to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth’s environment, with the goal of a healthy, sustainable environment including the promotion of clean energy. As a natural gas company, AGL Resources is committed to reducing its impact on the environment, and employees who participate in Earth Day initiatives reflect that commitment.

Here are some of the 2009 activities in which AGL Resources employees took part:

• Atlanta Gas Light – The V-Force participated in children’s activities at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, overseeing seed planting, a recycling relay and a frog jump. The Earth-inspired activities gave youngsters the opportunity to learn about conservation and clean energy programs and to develop an appreciation for the environment.
• Chattanooga Gas – Employee volunteers took to the streets in Chattanooga, collecting trash on one of the city’s main thoroughfares. And what a haul: They collected 10 large bags of garbage, and several pounds of recyclable items were picked up during the event. In the two weeks prior to Earth Day, Chattanooga Gas employees also collected 112 pounds of mixed paper and 24 pounds of newsprint that was taken for recycling to benefit the Orange Grove Center, a non-profit organization serving adults and children with developmental disabilities.
• Elizabethtown Gas – V-Force members joined employees from other businesses and schools in Elizabeth to clean up 20 areas in the city as part of a litter abatement program led by the New Jersey Clean Communities Council, a statewide urban cleanup team. The Elizabethtown Gas Clean Team removed 21 bags of trash and mattresses from the Front Street area before moving to the port for further clean-up activities.
• Sequent Energy Management – Sequent employees visited three classes of pre-kindergarteners at Turner Elementary School in Houston. Employees provided children at Sequent’s adopted school with a fun, hands-on introduction about clean-burning natural gas and safety. The students also became natural gas “traders;” wearing cool “trader sunglasses,” the kids traded natural gas by exchanging paper money for “natural gas” lollipops distributed through a cardboard pipeline.
• Virginia Natural Gas – Employee volunteers blanketed VNG’s service territory, staffing energySMART educational booths during Earth Day celebrations at The Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, Williamsburg Earth Day at Waller Mill Park and Earth Day for City of Newport News employees in CityCenter. VNG’s energySMART programs are designed to make it easy for customers to conserve by offering a variety of rebates and energy efficiency incentives, goals that align with Earth Day.