The Gift That Keeps Giving - Corporate Giving Takes the Place of Holiday Celebrations
By Jeana Hultquist, VP Legislative Affairs, American AgCredit
The company I work for, American AgCredit, employs over 650 people across five states. It is a wonderful organization to work for, and has an incredible culture of getting together annually to celebrate our successes. In the spirit of holiday fellowship, some offices held nice dinner dances that included spouses, partners and significant others; while other office locations chose a less formal event such as a luncheon festivity including a gift exchange.
As the Company’s leadership looked toward the end of this year, they shared a different approach for this holiday season. Who would have imagined back in March that we’d still be living in a world dominated by a global pandemic? Given the current environment and restrictions, the company made the decision to not hold in-person holiday parties at the various locations in California, Kansas, Nevada, Hawaii and Colorado. The disappointment was shared by many of us who look forward to getting together with colleagues during the holiday season.
Offices were encouraged to organize the normal activities in which they participate such as Toys-for-Tots or local canned food drives. However, more than ever, the holiday season will see many of our local communities in need. The unknowns faced by many nonprofits this year has been severe. High demand continues for food banks and other service-based providers.
To that end, American AgCredit announced that each employee would have the opportunity to direct a company donation of $500 to one of our local nonprofit partners. During challenging times, we learn a lot about the real values displayed by a company and those we work with every day. When the news was announced on the company’s intranet, the many comments were heartfelt:
“I love this idea. We are blessed to be working and I think giving to others is a great way to show our support to our communities.”
“Great idea! I am fortunate to work for such a caring and community involved company. Awesome!”
“I love this idea and once again, feel so proud to work for such a compassionate company who puts others’ needs first.”
Our Local Community Impact (LCI) program identified a list of approved and properly vetted organizations to which employees were able to direct the donation. At the end of the campaign, over $300,000 will be disbursed among the 16 nonprofit organizations.
While this will not make up for the boost each of us get from seeing and visiting with our work families at the holidays, the giving by American AgCredit will help other families have a better holiday season and the feeling of great pride each of us have to be working for an amazing organization!