Over the holidays, Lumbee River EMC employees and board members prepared boxes of food to give to 170 families in the community — as well as toys for 245 children in those families — through the Employee’s Christmas Care program. The program allows employees and friends of the cooperative to provide food baskets for families and toys for the children during the holiday season.
“The employees of Lumbee River EMC always look forward to this annual program,” said Derek Owens, president of the LREMC Employee’s Association. “We are lucky to be a part of such a wonderful organization and we feel this is just a little way we can give back to our community. We really do appreciate the cooperative’s management team and the Board of Directors for supporting the employees in this event.”
The program was founded in 1981, when employees decided to donate time and money to purchase toys and food for member families. As co-op employees interact with members throughout the year, they help assess those families that could benefit from a gift of food and toys at Christmas time. Applications were accepted from October to late November from members, which are then reviewed by a committee of employees who evaluate each request based on need.
“There are many people and organizations that help us with this event,” Owens said. “I would especially like to thank the folks at Campbell’s Soup and Unilever for their help this year. These two organizations came through in a very big way to make this year the huge success that it was.”