Community Involvement:
Newsletter 2021 V1 - Community Involvement
2020 was a challenging one for everyone, and UMassFive felt that it was important to continue our tradition of contributing to the positive efforts taking place in the communities we serve. While we continued to support the community initiatives that we typically are a part of, we doubled down on our community support by finding ways to participate in new initiatives as urgent needs arose in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Early in the spring, we hired The Log Cabin to provide lunches to emergency room workers at Mercy Medical Center and UMass Medical Center in Worcester, as well as a day of lunch service for Amherst Survival Center patrons. Over the summer, we also partnered with Freedom Credit Union, Hampshire Hospitality Group, and Belchertown’s Roadhouse Café on an initiative called Hampshire County Heroes, that provided meals to first responders in our communities. These initiatives not only recognized and nourished essential workers, but also helped keep small businesses operating in tough times, which is something we were proud to be a part of.
UMassFive employees also maintained our longstanding tradition of fundraising as Team UMassFive in the UMass Medicine Cancer Walk & Run, and even formed our first team for Will Bike 4 Food. Sixteen employees took a walk or run of their choosing as a part of the virtual UMass Cancer Walk and Run, raising $11,447 for the cause. Eleven employees raised $2,933 for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts as part of the virtual Will Bike 4 Food event, riding a bicycle course of their choosing. We are so grateful to our employees for selflessly working to better our communities through their fundraising efforts.
We would be remiss if we didn’t also mention how our membership made a big difference this year, helping to generate donations to local non-profit organizations. Buzz Points users, able to redeem their points as charitable donations to participating organizations, donated over $6,600 in 2020. An additional $5,000 was donated through our “Share Your Story” campaign, which allowed members to select from five local nonprofits that UMassFive would donate $25 to in their honor. Visa Credit Card users helped to generate a $5,000 donation to the Food Bank of Western Mass—simply by spending on their cards over the summer—as part of our "Spend and Give" campaign. Finally, our Hadley and Northampton branches held our annual cold-weather coat and clothing drive, collecting many donations from our generous members that were distributed to our neighbors in need in partnership with the Amherst Survival Center.
We would like to thank our membership for its continued support in helping our community and world become a better place for all.
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