ROANOKE, Va. – The Member One Executive team volunteered at Feeding America Southwest Virginia and sorted and processed more than 4,000 pounds of food for the hungry, while CU staff partnered with local clinics to distribute free meals.
“The leadership of Member One views it as a privilege to serve in the community,” said Nick Hart, Director of Marketing & Business Development. “We are delighted to be able to lend a helping hand where possible and use this as an opportunity to show fellow employees the importance of giving back.”
Not only was this a great and fun team-building activity, it served as the launching point for a bigger initiative to donate nearly 2,000 hours of paid volunteer time by Member One employees in 2017, the credit union said.
As part of the Member One benefits package, employees are allotted eight hours per year of paid volunteer time. Each member of the executive team has made a commitment to fully use their volunteer time in 2017 and will encourage all employees (approximately 240) to use theirs as well. That means more than 1,900 hours of valuable volunteer time could be generated to make a big impact in southwest and central Virginia.
Separately, Member One employees partnered with area free clinics to bring holiday meals to families. Member One staff from Roanoke, Lynchburg, Franklin County, and the New River Valley partnered with the Bradley Free Clinic, the Free Clinic of Central Virginia, the Free Clinic of Franklin County, and the Community Health Center of the New River Valley to identify families who’d benefit from a little bit of holiday cheer.
“This is a classic example of Member One employees joining together for a common purpose,” said Hart. “Throughout our footprint, there are people who rely on community support to make the holidays a little more festive, and we are honored to help out.”
Employees from each of the four regions coordinated distribution times with the local free clinic, purchased the food, and rallied employee volunteers to help hand out the meals, which included ham, stuffing, green beans, fruit, yams, rolls, and a pie.