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October 9,
2009
Dear Mecklenburg Electric
Cooperative,
This is Graham K. Bryant, your
Virginia delegate to the NRECA Youth Leadership Council and to NICE.
I am writing to thank everyone at Mecklenburg Electric once again
for everything you have done for me in the past few months. My
gratitude cannot be fully expressed by mere words, but I am going to
try it anyway.
Your generosity has allowed me to
have opportunities within the cooperatives of Virginia and America,
especially the rural electric co-ops, that I never imagined
possible. It all started in April of this year when Mecklenburg
kindly sponsored my attendance at the Virginia Council of Farmer
Cooperatives (Now Virginia Council of Cooperatives) Leadership
Conference at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria. During the three-day
program, I learned about the cooperative form of business in all
industries, and met many wonderful people who work in and around
co-ops every day. I was honored to have been chosen first-place
youth scholar of the VCFC conference, earning a trip to Knoxville,
Tennessee for the National Institute of Cooperative Education (NICE)
in the process.
A few months later in June, I again met up with Brian
Morris, my chaperone and guide from VCFC, and we traveled to
Washington, D.C. for the National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association (NRECA) Youth Tour. Brian was by far the most amazing
chaperone from any state present, in my opinion. I had the
opportunity to take in our nation’s capitol alongside over 1,500
like-minded students from across the country. While there, I was
interviewed for the position of Virginia’s representative to the
NRECA Youth Leadership Council. Thanks to the lessons about
cooperatives I learned from the VCFC conference, I was able to earn
the position, and win a return trip to DC in July and to the NRECA
National Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia in February.
Youth Tour was the best trip I have ever taken
to Washington because of the great friends I made and the lessons I
learned about America and its history.
As fun as Youth Tour was, I could
not wait to return to DC for the YLC program in July. During Youth
Tour, I met with my fellow state delegates from across America, but
only for a few hours. When I flew into DC (my first experience with
airline travel) last Saturday, I had no idea of the caliber of the
friends I was about to make. During our decidedly business-like
three full days in DC, the YLC members gave speeches, met with
electric cooperative industry leaders (including the CEO of NRECA,
Glenn English), and learned as much as possible about our industry.
The “red-shirts,” as we called the advisors, (even though all YLC
members received red polo shirts as well) were excellent people and
helped us to realize our full potential in our short time together.
I have never seen forty-five complete strangers from across the
states come together as the closest friends in such an amazingly
short period. I truly made friends for life in the members of the
Council. The National Meeting in Atlanta simply cannot get here fast
enough. I am eternally grateful for your support during Youth Tour
and helping me to become a member of the Youth Leadership Council,
and I will continue to do my best to represent not only Mecklenburg
Electric, but also all electric cooperatives and members across the
Commonwealth of Virginia in my role as Virginia’s YLC member. I am
enclosing a copy of my YLC speech in this letter. Although I was not
chosen as the National Spokesman, I believe my speech represented
you well among the many quality speeches delivered during the YLC
conference.
Now, as I look toward my trip to Tennessee on this
coming Saturday to represent Virginia at NICE along with six other
delegates, I am certain that my cooperative experiences made
possible by you, the members and staff of Mecklenburg Electric, will
allow me to excel and make the most of this experience. Thanks to
the NRECA YLC, I can show the advantages
and benefits of electric cooperatives in rural
communities. With this experience under my belt, I know that the
lessons learned at NICE next week will allow me to represent all
cooperatives just as well as rural electric co-ops.
Once again, I offer my most
sincere gratitude to John Lee, CEO of Mecklenburg Electric, Bobby
Conner and the rest of the Board of Directors, Brian Mosier, and
Brian Morris; without them, I could never have experienced the
wonderful opportunities I had this summer. I also would like to
thank the staff of Mecklenburg Electric, who had to spend so much
time and effort organizing our participation in the VCFC conference
and Youth Tour, therefore allowing me to attend NICE and be a member
of the Youth Leadership Council.
If there is anything I can do to
help Mecklenburg spread the cooperative message, I would be more
than happy to do so. The NRECA YLC has allowed me to become a
representative of the Cooperative Principles, especially in how they
apply to rural electric cooperatives. You have invested much time,
work, and money in my experiences this year. I can ensure you that
there will be return on your investment. Please contact me if I can
serve the cooperative in any way.
Thank you once again, everyone at
Mecklenburg Electric. Your generosity has truly changed my life.
Sincerely Yours,
Graham K. Bryant
Enc. One copy of my YLC Speech
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