Outreach

Premature birth touches half a million babies and their families each year in the United States, and 120,000 babies are born with serious birth defects. The March of Dimes champions the needs of moms and babies to stay healthy across the nation, and Reliant Energy is proud to support the organization’s mission.

Each year Reliant Energy and our employees help fight for our tiniest citizens through our involvement in the March of Dimes’ largest fundraiser, March for Babies—formerly WalkAmerica. March for Babies helps raise awareness for much-needed research and program dollars to help determine the cause of premature birth and how to prevent it.

Since 2002, Reliant Energy and its employees have contributed more than $500,000 to this worthy cause. In 2007 Reliant Energy had nearly 300 participants, including five of the top 25 walkers with the highest dollar contributions in the Greater Houston area.

Help Us Save Babies
We hope you'll join our fundraising efforts by participating in this important event. The money that you raise for March for Babies will support lifesaving research, services, education and advocacy that helps babies get a healthy start. To learn more and find an event location near you, visit www.marchforbabies.org.

We believe in giving back to the communities in which we live and work, and participating in the United Way Community Campaign is an important way of doing just that. 

Reliant Energy has conducted an annual campaign to raise money for programs funded by the United Way since electricity deregulation in 2002. Through a combination of employee contributions and the company’s dollar-for-dollar match program, Reliant has raised more than $2.2 million to support United Way agencies.

These funds support local United Way initiatives in more than a dozen states. While each United Way affiliate chooses how to use its funds, common focus areas include helping children and youth succeed, strengthening and supporting families, promoting self sufficiency, building vital and safe neighborhoods and supporting the elderly.

This year, Reliant has also stepped up to serve as the Gulf Coast United Way’s 2005 – 2006 Champion of Caring sponsor. Throughout this period Reliant will support major United Way events and visibility initiatives to ensure a successful campaign.

More than 350 orthopedic and burn patients and their families from the Shriners’ Hospitals of Houston and Galveston took to the field in June at the Houston Texans’ Indoor Practice Facility as Reliant Energy hosted its third annual Shriners Field Day.

Shriners patients got a true feel for pro football through a visit from Houston Texans lineman Seth Payne, as well as the Houston Texans cheerleaders, who signed autographs, posed for pictures and gave pointers to the boys and girls in attendance.

Volunteers from Reliant Energy and Shriners staffed the booths, featuring activities including a football toss, putt-putt golf, indoor fishing, musical squares, bean bag toss, face painting and more.

Shriners Hospitals for Children provide expert medical care to children from birth to age 18 at absolutely no cost to the patient or their family.

Reliant believes in supporting the Galveston bay area and the wildlife that inhabits the area. That’s why Reliant is a proud supporter of the Galveston Bay Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the natural resources of the Galveston Bay estuarine system, and its tributaries.

Reliant-sponsored, Bay Day is an event created by the Galveston Bay Foundation to offer educational and family fun activities regarding issues and influences impacting Galveston Bay. 

Reliant employees take an active role in Bay Day by sponsoring and assisting with the Karma Floating Classroom, running an energy efficiency booth, an environmental booth, and other volunteer assistance activities.

More than 60 Reliant Energy volunteers joined forces with Trees for Houston on April 22, 2005, to celebrate Earth Day by planting 800 bald cypress seedlings.

After about four hours of work, 500 trees were planted and completely mulched. Trees for Houston donated the remaining 300 seedlings to area schools and civic organizations.

According to Trees for Houston, for every four urban trees destroyed, only one is replaced. U.S. Department of Forestry statistics indicate that a single tree with a 30-inch circumference may remove 200 pounds of carbon dioxide, 1.1 pounds of ozone and two pounds of sulfur dioxide every year.

The bald cypress seedlings were chosen because they adapt well to the harsh heat and frequent drought conditions of the Texas Gulf Coast. The seedlings were between one-and 3.5-feet tall and will grow to a height of between 50- and 70-feet tall with a 25-foot spread.

Each year breast cancer strikes more than 200,000 new victims and claims the life of nearly 40,000 more. But thanks to the efforts of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, we’re gaining ground on this disease.

Since its inception in 1982, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has raised more than $750 million and is credited as one of the nation’s leading catalysts in the fight against breast cancer.

Reliant Energy is a proud supporter of the Komen Race for the Cure in Houston and in other communities we serve. In addition to the company’s support, Reliant employees contribute by running, walking and donating time and money.