Movement can competitions feed thousands
Between canned goods, turkeys, cash donations and a match from the nonprofit Movement Foundation, a lot of people are getting fed thanks to Movement Mortgage team members.
All four Movement operations centers held food drives this month to help local food banks. The company's nonprofit affiliate, the Movement Foundation, matched those efforts, donating over $31,000 by drives' end.
And to boost participation, each Movement campus turned the drive into a competition.
Feeding 8,000 Charlotte-area families
Employees at Movement's Fort Mill, S.C., headquarters helped collect more than 10,400 pounds of food, cereal and fruit that will help provide 8,000 meals to families in the Charlotte, N.C. area.
To assist the nonprofit Loaves and Fishes, employees split into teams and spent two weeks gathering the non-perishable food items. They then spent their lunch breaks and after-work hours turning a mass of cans into impressive creations that included a replica of the United States flag, a castle with a functional cereal box drawbridge and a speeding locomotive with LED lighting.
Representatives from Loaves and Fishes examined each structure for its creativity and stability, choosing a winner and two runners-up before loading all the food into trucks and weighing it last week. The Movement Foundation donated over $5,330 to Loaves and Fishes after agreeing to match $1 for every 2 pounds of food employees contributed.
This was the first time Loaves and Fishes participated in such a massive can castle drive/competition with a local company, says Shay Merritt, the charity's volunteer food drive coordinator.
Loaves and Fishes supplies a week's worth of groceries to thousands of Mecklenburg County families living below the federal poverty line. It works through a network of about 20 pantries that stock their shelves with food received through donations.
Movement's contributions will help replenish shelves as the food distribution gets underway next week. Loaves and Fishes this year is on target to provide food to about 70,000 people — half of whom will be children, Merritt says.
Virginia gives back
Movement's Richmond and Virginia Beach campuses collected meals for Wave City Care, a nonprofit that offers food, clothing, tutoring, mentoring and addiction recovery services to people in crisis.
Teams collected carrots, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce and more to make full meals. Virginia Beach brought in 1,196 meals and the Movement Foundation matched $15 per box, resulting in a $17,940 donation to Wave City Care. The campus also collected $1,175 in cash, which was matched by the foundation dollar-for-dollar.
Employees in Richmond brought in 161 meals for Wave City Care, with the foundation providing a $2,415 match.
Arizona brings in the turkey
In addition to the 210 meals for the Phoenix Rescue Mission, team members at the Tempe campus brought in $1,450 in cash for 97 turkeys. For each box donated, the Movement Foundation matched $17, equalling another $3,570 to the rescue mission.
