As chairperson of the Military Support Group at COUNTRY, I am always eager to share with others the passion and excitement I have for making a difference. And I have a really great story to share about our employees directly helping kids in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan. More on that in a second.I first want to tell you about our group and what we do, because we do a lot. We provide moral support for our employees on active duty and their families. We act as liaisons between deployed employees and their co-workers. We create awareness in the organization with special activities. The list goes on.
Think of it this way. Less than 1% of the population of the United States enlist, and that 1% pledges to “fight against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” to protect our homeland and other countries around the world. They deserve to be supported and thanked for that pledge.
So here’s one way we helped them. Our group recently organized a seven month “Operation We Care” donation effort. Employees donated thousands of school supplies, clothing and toys for citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan.
More than 132 boxes were sent to seven of our employees or families of employees on active military duty overseas, who then distributed the boxes of needed supplies to impoverished children. Thanks to our efforts, we were able to fill a lot of these backpacks.
Among the heap of supplies, we packaged:
- 591 boxes of crayons
- 104 soccer balls
- 2 hand puppets. Hey, all kids like puppets, right?
Needless to say, our employees were generous in their giving, with each donation coming straight from their hearts. Employees gave knowing their donations would make a difference, and hopefully make children’s lives a little more sustainable and enjoyable.
That’s one way we’re working to support our coworkers serving overseas. Do you have any good ideas on what we can do next?
[Kent Sunderland is the director of ITS Support Services at COUNTRY Financial]
