Local Horizon Credit Union Employees Prepare Meal Mixes for Colville Food Bank

Five employees from Horizon Credit Union’s Colville branch volunteered at the Colville Food Bank as part of the organization’s annual Go. Give. Grow. event. Horizon Credit Union employees Terrie Jones, Kerri Retherford, Casey Heath, Indica Renfro, and Jaylene Lord worked together to measure, portion, and bag ingredients needed for different recipes.

According to the employees, their work amounted to 362 total meal packages, including 69 Mexican Rice-a-Roni mixes, 107 oatmeal mixes, 73 Italian barley soup mixes, 81 chili seasoning blends, and 32 split pea soup mixes. Jones said, “It was amazing to work together as a group knowing that each mix we prepared would help provide a meal for someone in need.”

Horizon Credit Union’s annual Go. Give. Grow. event, where branches close for a day so employees can volunteer, aims to integrate community into the credit union’s corporate culture, according to Horizon Credit Union officials. In a single afternoon, Horizon team members sorted and repackaged 75,692 pounds of food; reorganized 15,097 pounds of clothing, toiletries and diapers; made 3,356 meals and meal kits for those facing food insecurity; and crafted 3,400 cards and holiday stockings for isolated seniors across 21 nonprofit organizations in the region.

“It may seem like a simple task, but knowing that these meal mixes will help provide food for people in need made every bag feel important,” Jones said. “It was also wonderful to see everyone working together, having fun, and making a difference as a team.