By closing their offices for one day, Royal Credit Union (Royal) was able to make a huge impact in the communities they serve. On Monday, October 9, Royal hosted its third Community Give Back Day event allowing team members the opportunity to volunteer at 80 nonprofit organizations across Wisconsin and Minnesota. In just one day, Royal’s 850 team members were able to provide more than 5,500 hours of service in across twenty different communities.

One of the organizations that benefited from the event was the New Richmond School District’s SOAR educational center. SOAR Stands for Students Opportunities with Agricultural Resources and is a student-run school farm that produces goods for school lunches.

“We have a lot of work to do on the farm, and you graciously came out with your group of Royal folks to help. You know the old saying, ‘many hands make light work,’ we’ve proved that today,” shared Agriscience Instructor and SOAR Center leader, Rachel Sauvola.  “Some of the many things we did include winterizing the goat houses and animal water tanks, dismantling the garden, harvesting celery for school lunch and producing food for the chickens.”

Other project examples included creating blankets for homeless students attending the Eau Claire Area School District, cleaning and doing yard work at the Taylor House in Medford, hanging holiday lights in Irvine Park in Chippewa Falls, stocking the shelves at the Somerset Community Food Shelf, and planting trees in the Twin Cities. Some of Royal’s fully remote team members spent their day helping individuals with visual impairments through a partnership with the Be My Eyes organization. 

“It takes careful planning and preparation  to make Give Back Day possible,” shared Jennifer McHugh, Royal Vice President of Community Engagement. “We’ve had an internal group of Royal team members working for over a year to coordinate the logistics. It is incredible to see all of their hard work come together to make a positive impact for so many deserving organizations.”

Many other credit unions across Wisconsin and Minnesota choose to use October 9 at a day of service. Each year, The Minnesota Credit Union Network hosts CU Forward Day on the second Monday in October and encourages credit union employees, Members and partners to come together to spread kindness. This year, the Wisconsin Credit Union League held their first CU Community Day with a goal of highlighting the sixth and seventh Cooperative Principles: Cooperation Among Cooperatives and Concern for the Community.