Doing Good: Bank employees help provide resources for working poor
To volunteer with Midtown Assitance Center, go to www.midtownassistancectr.org
A partnership that started 16 years ago has helped make a difference in the lives of the working poor of Midtown Atlanta. Federal Home Loan Bank Atlanta has volunteered with Midtown Assistance Center since 1997, and has provided various services to the nonprofit organization that reached out to over 8,000 people in 2012 alone.
In keeping with their partnership, employees of the bank got together on Sept. 13 to make hygiene kits, snack bags and door snakes (to help lower utility costs) for MAC’s clients. “These are essentials to help our local families and a fill a need in the community,” said Bernadette Kennedy, who works with FHL Bank Atlanta.
The company encourages its employees to give back each month to MAC, a mission that is now an integral part of the atmosphere at the work place. The employees, such as Kennedy, also shop and pick up grocery items for the food pantry, volunteer at the clothing closet as well work directly with the clients of MAC.
“As a business we depend on the community, and so it became a part of the bank’s mission to also give back to the people in need,” added Kennedy. “MAC serves a crucial purpose in the (Midtown and Downtown) area, and we are so glad to be a part of helping uplift their clients and get them back on their feet.”
Midtown Assistance Center works with low income working poor by providing various resources that help people stay afloat during tough times. Since it’s founding in 1986, the assistance center has provided rent, utilities, groceries, public transportation, work shoes, identification to people in and around Midtown and Downtown Atlanta preventing homelessness and hunger during periods of crisis.
“The people we help are everyday people who have gotten into a temporary bind,” said Rebecca Richard, program and volunteer coordinator at MAC. “Sometimes the assistance center winds up being closer to them than a grocery store, so MAC becomes a direct resource for our clients. Knowing that there is such a need makes volunteering a very integral part of the organization’s success.”
Like FHL Bank Atlanta, Richard encourages people to volunteer with the nonprofit as it continues to help those in Atlanta. “Anyone can help us by making door snakes, host food drives to collect for our pantry, volunteer at the clothing closet, or help in office with data entry,” encouraged Richard. “The collective effort with the community really helps make difference to those in need.”
Over the past 27 years, Midtown Assistance Center has helped over 95,000 clients. Last year, the center provided over $300,000 in assistance.
In other news: Digital Insurance, the nation’s largest employee benefits-only agency, raised $45,000 for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta from its Fifth Annual DI Dash Road Race held on Aug. 24 in Marietta Square. Since the race’s inception in 2009, DI has raised over $175,000 for CHOA.
