HWE linecrew assisted with a bat condo project. Hancock-Wood was approached to help with this project by Brandon Burrow. “We were able to partner with Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative to donate and set four utility poles needed for this project,” explained Burrow. “Their poles were exactly what we needed to be able to support the size and scale of this structure.” According to Hancock Park District Naturalist (HPD) Chad Carroll the bat condo will act as a maternity roost for species such as the little brown bat. The bats tend to like man-made structures to nest in and it will take them a couple of years to find the structure and move in. The condo is designed to hold up to 10,000 mother bats and their young. 

In 2021, Marathon Petroleum Corporation Terminals Electronic Services Manager Brandon Burrow spearheaded a project to construct 25 bat houses for the HPD. The funds were donated by Marathon Petroleum Corporation, and the houses have become an integral part of Hancock County parks.

In addition to providing a safe place to raise their young, bat the bat condo will also provide a benefit to the surrounding area. “Less mosquitoes is the big benefit,” explains Carroll. “Hopefully, people are able to enjoy the parks more when mosquitoes are not driving them crazy. Bat populations in general are in trouble. Numbers statewide have been dropping due to a number of factors, so if we are able to provide any assistance to the local bat populations that is a big plus in my books.”