Utility mails $150 grocery gift cards to thousands without power on Thanksgiving

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A utility company sent $150 grocery gift cards to more than 3,000 of its customers who were still without power on Thanksgiving, The Spokesman-Review reported Monday.

Thousands of Avista Corp.'s customers were without power for more than a week after a major storm moved through the area earlier this month.

The Spokesman Review said Avista mailed 3,074 of the gift cards Friday, for a total coast of $461,100 -- the first time the company has done such a thing.

Avista spokeswoman Debbie Simock said the gift cards to the Rosauers supermarkets were a gift from Avista sharehold earnings.

Simock told the newspaper that "knowing that some customers were going to be without power on Thanksgiving Day, it just seemed the right thing to acknowledge the fact they would be missing the holiday. We just wanted to thank them for their patience and show our appreciation for those would be in that situation...."