Operation Holiday Basket 2008

First of all, a Happy New Year to all of you from all of us here in the Financial Development Department. We wish for the best for you and your family in 2009.

You may remember a piece we did last year on Operation Holiday Basket, a community service project held at the Hiawatha YMCA. We wanted to give you an update on that program, which had its 39th edition on December 19 of last year. About 300 needy families received a turkey meal basket, courtesy of our corporate supporters Cub Foods and SuperValu.

In the picture at left, you can see some of the volunteers gathered at the Hiawatha YMCA, ready to provide a helping hand for those in need. As Gedric Merritt, an Intervention Specialist with the YMCA, put it, "I love helping folks."

Below, we offer a couple of pictures demonstrating the scene at the Y, as volunteers prepare to assemble the baskets of donated food. In looking at this, one is struck not only by the dedication of the volunteers, but by the generosity of those who donated to this cause.

Once again, we offer our appreciation to our corporate partners, and to all those who gave freely of their time and efforts to make Operation Holiday Basket a success once again!