Community First Credit Union Helps Homeless Through the Holidays
January 9, 2017
PHOTO: Appleton Police Sgt. David Lund helped distribute a dozen “blessing bags” to homeless individuals and families at a recent breakfast through the Lights of Christmas program supported by Community First Credit Union (Appleton, Wis.).
Lights of Christmas making a difference for police, needy individuals, families
Community First Credit Union (Appleton, Wis.) has collaborated with a Green Bay radio and television station to support homeless individuals and families through police officers in Appleton and Green Bay.
Through sponsorship funding, volunteer and marketing assistance for the Lights of Christmas program, Community First has helped needy individuals through police officer delivery of “blessing bags” filled with gift cards, a fleece blanket, mittens and more personal items.
The new initiative serves a two-fold purpose: to help brighten the holidays for those with limited resources and to buoy local police officers who are often underappreciated for the role they play in our communities.
Lights of Christmas was the idea of Q90FM radio employee Katie Connell, who was spurred to action by the July shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers ambushed by a gunman.
Community First stepped up as a co-sponsor and collected additional funds through its network of 23 regional branches. In short order, Connell’s idea generated over $10,000 in cash donations and 100 blessing bags worth almost $50 each.
“These are things that really lift our spirits,” said Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas. “We get the opportunity to meet with people that we know are struggling and have a lot more challenges in their lives than most of us. We get to see them smile and give them a little bit of happiness.”
Recipients have included an Appleton man recently diagnosed with cancer struggling with a disruptive neighbor, a down-on-her luck woman who frequently seeks refuge at the Appleton library, a teen-age girl from a broken family of limited means, a woman in a county courtroom due to her mental health issues, a blind elderly man who recently had his leg amputated, a young mother stressed about finances with nothing for Christmas, a young homeless girl whose mother died recently and whose father cannot work due to MS, and a middle school student who lives with his troubled dad and grandmother and rides his bike to school every day year round.
Community First Credit Union has over $2.58 billion in assets, more than 126,000 members and operates 23 full-service branches (plus nine nontraditional branches in schools and retirement communities) in Northeast and Central Wisconsin.
