Ben Lomand Connect’s month-long food drive ended on December 14th with 1,954 items going to local food banks in the Ben Lomand service territory. Beginning November 14th, the company began collecting food items from its local offices in Warren, White, Cumberland, and Grundy counties, at the Citizens Tri-County Bank in Van Buren county and the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center. Along with the food items, Ben Lomand Connect matched with a monetary donation of fifty cents per item for nearly one-thousand dollars given locally. Ben Lomand employees also contributed by bringing food to add to customer donations.
Marketing/Public Relations Manager Bryan Kell said of the endeavor, “2020 has been a trying year for so many individuals and families throughout our service area. This food drive allowed employees, departments, offices, and our communities to come together and give to those in need. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our overall items raised were 1,954, being that 1954 was our first year to serve the area as Ben Lomand Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. To quote one of the pantry workers in Coffee County, ‘That is a God thing.’”
Lisa Cope, General Manager/CEO of Ben Lomand Connect, added, “What an incredible blessing to us at Ben Lomand and to the recipients of the food.” Ben Lomand Connect would like to thank Citizens Tri-County Bank and Manchester Coffee County Conference Center for allowing collections at their locations. Their efforts are appreciated, and their employees generously gave as well. Ben Lomand Connect was incorporated on October 2, 1952, to provide local telephone service to rural middle Tennessee. Ben Lomand began its diversification in 1993 by forming BLC, a wholly-owned long-distance subsidiary. It was the first competitive local exchange carrier in the state of Tennessee.
Combined, the two have over 25,500 access lines covering 3,200 square miles of territory. Ben Lomand Connect also offers many other services, including video, security, hosted IP solutions, and managed IT services.
