Drops of Kindness in the Spotlight at National Conference

The accolades poured in for Louisville Water’s customer assistance program, Drops of Kindness℠, at an industry conference last month.

Oracle Utilities, the company that manages our customer care and billing system, held its Customer Edge conference in Nashville on June 27 and 28. Louisville Water VP of Information Technology Jeff Knott attended as leaders highlighted Drops of Kindness and the positive impact it had in our community amid a global pandemic.

An Oracle employee impressed by the program and our company’s efforts nominated Louisville Water for the award. He learned about Drops of Kindness at a conference earlier this year, where Director of Customer Service Megan Hancock and VP of Communications and Marketing Kelley Dearing Smith explained the customer assistance initiative to attendees.

“When I think about COVID and the economic strain people were under to pay their utility bills, I cannot see a bigger issue and need than the Drops of Kindness program addressed,” said Mike Burke, Oracle Application Sales Manager.

Louisville Water was honored along with Nova Scotia Power in the Strategic Vision category, which showcased utilities that demonstrated the ability to foresee trends, needs, or issues pertaining to the industry and worked to address them for the overall good of the communities it serves.

In March 2020, Drops of Kindness consolidated existing customer assistance programs under one umbrella. It offered customizable payment options and interest-free plans in addition to providing customers with information about financial assistance resources. The goal was to help customers cope with COVID-19 and the economic ripple effects. By February 2021, nearly 12,000 customers had received some form of water and wastewater bill assistance.

As part of this award, Oracle made a small donation on behalf of Louisville Water to The Nature Conservancy. It will benefit The Nature Conservancy’s “Plant a Billion Trees” campaign.