The Cox commitment to Middle Georgia never wavered in 2020, despite a pandemic and other crisis impacting our region. Recognizing the need to give back to our communities now more than ever, Cox gave over $600,000 in cash and in-kind donations to local charities and non-profits with a primary focus on youth, education, diversity and conservation initiatives.  

“Last year was certainly full of new challenges for all of us,” said Bonnie Lopez-Crowe, market vice president for Cox’s Middle Georgia market. “We are proud to be a part of the local community and wanted to ensure that our non-profit friends were still able to provide services to those who needed them more in 2020 than ever before.” 

In addition to our annual corporate giving, special grants were awarded in 2020. The Mentor’s Project received a $5,000 Social Justice Grant, and through the generosity of the James M. Cox Foundation, we were able to provide the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank $50,000 in COVID relief.

Cox Charities, a grant program funded entirely by local Cox employees, awarded $8,000 in grants to local non-profits and schools.  In 2020, Cox Middle Georgia employees awarded an Innovation in Education Grant to Rutland Middle School. In addition, United in Pink and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Heart of Georgia each received a Cox Charities Community Investment Grant. 

Along with the monetary support, our employees, the majority of which still work from home, served on nearly 20 local nonprofit boards and committees virtually, to support community organizations in their efforts to reinvent plans and strategies due to the pandemic.

When schools shifted to a virtual learning platform in March, hundreds of Macon-Bibb and Houston County families did not have access to reliable internet service. We partnered with local school districts to ensure qualified students had access to the internet through the low-cost internet program Connect2Compete. Thousands of area students were connected to free internet for four months.

But students weren’t the only ones who went virtual in March. With most companies sending employees home to work, we knew telecommunications services were more important now than ever before. Our network saw a 30% increase in traffic the first five months of the pandemic. We expedited network upgrades in Middle Georgia to ensure customers had an optimal network experience. By adding an average of 50% additional capacity to the Middle Georgia Network customers were able to have multiple family members online streaming classroom instruction, virtual meetings and work projects. 

“I’m very proud of our local Cox employees who ensured our business and residential customers have reliable connectivity in order to work and school from home during the pandemic,” added Anthony Pope, Cox Southeast Region senior vice president and region manager. “Our network engineers and field technicians have gone the extra mile to make sure that our community is connected and supported.”