14th Annual Week of Employee Volunteerism Addresses Food Insecurity in Communities across 20 States

NRG Energy, Inc.’s (NYSE:NRG) fourteenth annual week of employee volunteerism—dubbed positiveNRG week by the organization —brought more than 500 NRG employees across 20 states together to donate over 1,600 hours to help alleviate the impact of food insecurity in their communities. From November 8-12, the NRG family donated over 100,000 pounds of food and packed and delivered over 74,000 meals.

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Employees had the opportunity to make a positive impact through monetary and food donations, packaging meals, and distributing food at local food banks and other food security initiatives.

“So many of our neighbors have, and continue to, struggle to put food on their table. We were able to spend positiveNRG week helping to alleviate some of the hardships that so many in our communities are facing, particularly following the pandemic,” said Jennifer Brunelle, Senior Director, positiveNRG, NRG’s corporate philanthropy program. “We always aim to be active and positive members of our communities, by reconnecting in person for our annual positiveNRG week, our employees capitalized on the opportunity to make a difference.”

Participating in over 29 events over the course of the week, employees volunteered with a number of organizations, including:

• United Way of Greater Mercer County

• Houston Food Bank

• Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank

• Attack Poverty

• Kids Meals, Inc.

• Camp Hope

Many non-profit organizations and community groups have experienced an increased need for food assistance in the past two years. One of NRG's partners, the United Way of Greater Mercer County, noted that prior to the pandemic 55,000 families in the area were struggling with food insecurity and that need has continued to increase exponentially. Houston Food Bank has experienced a similar increase and has been distributing an average of 688,000 pounds of food and other essentials per day, a more than 126% increase.

Courtney Matlock, Senior Director of Development, United Way of Greater Mercer County, spoke about the importance of working with partners such as NRG, “Around food security, we pride ourselves on being able to bring together partners who are truly vested in the community, we count [NRG] among our “crew,” Courtney said. “The head of the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank called to express his gratitude in being able to be part of the effort – they are so very appreciative of the trucks that [NRG and their employees] helped to make possible.”

“We are so grateful for NRG’s partnership,” said Amy Ragan, Chief Development Officer of Houston Food Bank. “NRG employees are very productive volunteers because they work fast and push to get as much product ready for distribution as possible. Their volunteer support means that many more families will have food in their homes within 24 hours. It’s humbling to see a company such as NRG make so much impact in their community.”

PositiveNRG will continue to contribute to the causes critical to our communities and to recognize and support the organizations who work every day to alleviate hunger.

To learn more about positiveNRG week.

About positiveNRG

PositiveNRG is NRG Energy’s charitable giving arm, focused on creating a positive impact for employees, customers and communities. The program is reflective of our company’s values by empowering healthy choices, enabling community resilience and supporting environmental health. PositiveNRG establishes long-term relationships with non-profits and organizations that help our communities to flourish, co-creating a better future for everyone.

About NRG

At NRG, we’re bringing the power of energy to people and organizations by putting customers at the center of everything we do. We generate electricity and provide energy solutions and natural gas to millions of customers through our diverse portfolio of retail brands. A Fortune 500 company, operating in the United States and Canada, NRG delivers innovative solutions while advocating for competitive energy markets and customer choice, working toward a sustainable energy future. More information is available at nrg.com. Connect with NRG on Facebook, LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter @nrgenergy.

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