Two Delaware Electric Co-op members honored nationally for making a difference

Two members of Delaware Electric Cooperative were recently honored as winners of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives 2017 #WhoPowersYou Contest. Mary Rio was honored as a third place winner for her work with Clothing Our Kids and Chase Marvil was named honorable mention for his work with "The Inspiring Project."

Both winners received a donation from Touchstone Energy, which was matched by Delaware Electric Cooperative. The #WhoPowersYou Contest was designed as a way to honor local heroes in the community, and spread positive energy across the cooperative network.

After learning about a young elementary student who only had one set of clothing, Rio was driven to improve the lives of children in Sussex County. In 2012, she founded COK and operated the newly-founded organization out of her home. Through her efforts, COK has flourished into an award winning 501(c)(3) charity with over 150 volunteers and a permanent volunteer center.

According to Rio, "Over 22 percent of children are living in poverty and we clothe them for school and give them the basics they need to attend. As a child going into pre-K or kindergarten, you're scared. Can you imagine going into school with no clothes that fit you correctly or no shoes?"

Marvil has helped nearly 100,000 people from at least eight different countries through "The Inspiring Project," a now global organization to help end the stigma of bullying and suicide. He has not only inspired others through his social media messages, but through annual "Impact Nights," where teens and children are invited to free their minds and see that there are people who care about them. Marvil has been named the National Teenager of the Year for 2016, an MTV trailblazer, and has won countless awards including the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award for 2017.

"Everyone knows as soon as you log onto social media, there is so much negativity, no matter what platform. The Inspiring Project is something that allows people to go online to post inspirational tweets, quotes and anything with that hashtag. It goes to our followers so they can share. And, it puts a crack in the barrier for those who are seeing negative things and puts positive things out there. I love doing it," said Marvil.

To learn more about the winners' tremendous efforts in the community, visit www.whopowersyou.com. Winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges, and criteria was based on their positive impact on the community.