ASHLAND, Ky., Dec. 5, 2025 – The Kentucky Power Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to Appalachia Reach Out (ARO), an organization dedicated to serving families across Eastern Kentucky through housing support, community outreach and essential services. Grants and contributions are not included in customer rates. Kentucky Power employees also stepped up as volunteers to help with the rebuilding of a home destroyed by flooding earlier this year.
“This support is helping us continue the vital work of getting families back into their homes before the hard winter sets in,” wrote ARO Executive Director Dwayne Mills in an email to Kentucky Power. “In the past two months, ARO has helped four families return home, and the generosity of the Kentucky Power Foundation is making it possible for us to assist several more.”
While the grant helps support ARO’s overall mission, Kentucky Power employees were boots on the ground, working as volunteers for the organization, painting and undertaking preparation work on one of the homes being restored.
Ryan Howell, external affairs manager, said the combined support of the Foundation grant and employee volunteer efforts accelerate the rebuilding process and provides direct assistance to families in need.
"We want our customers to know they are our top priority," said Howell. "The Kentucky Power Foundation is proud to support ARO and the important work they are doing. As volunteers, we’re honored to contribute to the hands-on hard work required to ensure we are making a real impact by demonstrating the ways we put our customers first."
The Kentucky Power Foundation, part of the American Electric Power Foundation, awards grants within communities served by Kentucky Power. The American Electric Power Foundation is funded by American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) and its operating subsidiaries, including Kentucky Power. The Foundation provides a permanent, ongoing resource for charitable initiatives in communities served by AEP and initiatives outside AEP’s 11-state service area. As an independent, non-profit philanthropic organization, the Foundation is funded solely through shareholder dollars.
The Foundation focuses on improving lives through education from early childhood through higher education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and by meeting basic needs for emergency shelter, affordable housing and the elimination of hunger. Other Foundation support may be offered to protect the environment, promote healthcare and safety, and enrich life through art, music and civic vitality.
Kentucky Power, headquartered in Ashland, provides service to 162,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties and is an operating company in the American Electric Power system, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States.