Core Bank team members are making the season brighter for families in need. A team of “Santa’s Helpers” volunteered their time to organize a Christmas Families gift drive for families that Core Bank adopted and did additional shopping to add to the donations.
Many families we have helped in the past have fallen into hard times due to being laid off from work, health issues, or leaving domestic violence situations. These families struggled to provide necessities, let alone Christmas gifts for their children. The elderly individuals often have little if any family support and struggle to make ends meet.
Core Bank employees have been able to give these families and individuals a Christmas to remember by donating money or by purchasing an item from the families’ and individuals’ wish lists. Our employees are extremely generous, as each year nearly every item on the wish lists is donated or purchased with donated cash.
This year, as in years past, Core Bank employees have chosen to adopt four families from local schools and six elderly individuals from the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. Once all the gifts are purchased, they are wrapped during a lively gift-wrapping party where holiday music is played all afternoon long as employees wrap gifts with great care. Each year employees end up wrapping about 300 to 400 gifts. Once the gifts are ready to go, a team of employees sets off across the city to deliver each family’s gifts to the schools and school counselors.
“Our people are extremely generous! It’s never a struggle to raise enough funds to fulfill the family and elderly wish lists. And they put so much thought and care into the gifts that are donated to this cause. Our people shop for these gifts as if they are shopping for their own family members. It’s always an inspiring time of year, experiencing the generosity and thoughtfulness of our people,” said Lindsey Wedel, Chief People Officer.
For the past 25 years, Core Bank has experienced the joy of giving by providing Christmas gifts for over 100 families and over 120 elderly individuals. May everyone have a wonderful holiday season!