Duke Energy donated a generous $10,000 to WNC Communities for our 76th Annual WNC Honors Awards, held on November 15, 2025. This contribution helped us reach a total of $121,000 raised for the WNC Honors Awards, which is distributed directly to our 81 member communities to support the incredible work of these volunteer-led organizations.
“It was inspiring to participate in this year’s WNC Honors Awards ceremony,” said Lisa Leatherman of Duke Energy. “Duke Energy is proud to support the work of the 81 rural community organizations who, thanks to their committed members, are creating many positive impacts in their communities.”
It is important to note that donations from Duke Energy and our other sponsors go directly to the community centers during each year’s WNC Honors Awards ceremony. Together, this year’s 81 participating communities represent approximately 100,000 households across Western North Carolina. Over the past year, they engaged more than 7,707 volunteers, who contributed 317,157 total service hours. Using the current volunteer value rate of $34.79 an hour, that equals over $11 million in contributed time alone. Community leaders and members volunteered their time and energy toward projects focused on collaborative emergency response, food access, education, youth engagement, social and digital connectivity, community health and wellness, and entrepreneurial development.
We are incredibly thankful for Duke Energy for their continued investment in rural community efforts to support the health of our extraordinary mountain region. Thank you to Duke Energy for your donation and your ongoing support of the people and communities in our mountain region.
Pictured above is Karen Hammett, Chair of WNC Communities’ Board, receiving the $10,000 check from Lisa Leatherman of Duke Energy.
If your business is interested in becoming a sponsor of our 77th WNC Honors Awards for 2026, please contact our Executive Director, Jennifer Ferre, at (828) 252-4783