LOWELL, MA Jeanne DArc Credit Union is excited to name Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter (NSKS) the latest winner of the Give-A-Click campaign. The organization received a $1,500 donation from the Credit Unions We Share A Common Thread Foundation.
Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, established in 1981, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing assistance and advocacy to individuals and families struggling with poverty or homelessness. Although soup kitchen and shelter is stated in its name, the organization provides many more services that help people make their way to self-sufficiency, including employment and education programs, emergency and transitional housing, offering household items to those moving out on their own, supplying personal care items and providing rent or fuel assistance in the form of loans. On an average monthly basis, 930 families visit NSKS for non-perishable food boxes and the organization receives 2,545 total visits for perishable items.
"The [Give-A-Click] campaign really builds excitement from everybody," said Carol Weeks, Community Outreach Manager of Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter.
"It builds visibility within the community," said Lisa Christie, Executive Director. "It helps gain support from outside the Greater Nashua community, as well. People would tell me I voted or I shared it" she added.
The organization spread the word about their participation and encouraged votes with Facebook posts, email blasts, notices to staff and board members, as well as sharing information on their personal accounts.
The Give-A-Click campaign runs every quarter on the Credit Unions We Share a Common Thread Foundation website. Community members visit the site to read about worthy non-profit organizations and vote for their favorite one. The charity with the most votes is awarded a $1,500 donation from the Foundation. New charities are posted every quarter and people of the community, Jeanne DArc members, employees and the organizations supporters are asked to visit
WeShareACommonThread.org to help their favorite nonprofits gain a much-needed donation.
"We are thrilled to declare Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter the winner of our latest Give-A-Click contest," said Mark S. Cochran, President Chief Executive Officer of Jeanne DArc Credit Union. "Now that we are in the Nashua community, we are excited to be able to extend our support to our new neighbors," he added.
Jeanne DArc Credit Union was also honored to feature The Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation and Westford Against Substance Abuse as nominees in the third quarter campaign.
The fourth-quarter contest kicked off on October 1
st with the following organizations vying for the next donation: Hope Dove Inc., Kids In Disability Sports, Inc. and Family Promise of Greater Nashua at Anne-Marie House.
Photo: Brian Sousa (far left), Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at Jeanne DArc Credit Union and Susan Hannigan (far right), Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Jeanne DArc Credit Union present Carol Weeks (middle left), Community Outreach Manager at Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, and Lisa Christie (middle right), Executive Director of Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter with a $1,500 donation. Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter is the latest winner of Jeanne DArc Credit Unions Give-A-Click campaign.
About Jeanne DArc Credit Union:
Jeanne DArc Credit Union was established in 1912 and is a full-service, member-owned community-based financial cooperative with more than 75,000 members and $1.2 billion in assets. It operates eight full-service branches in Lowell, Dracut (2), Tyngsboro, Chelmsford, Methuen and Westford, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire; high-school branches at Lowell High and Dracut High schools; a loan center in Lowell and two mortgage centers in Chelmsford and North Reading.
