The desire to bring the Pop-Up Pantry back to the community began with a gingerbread contest in December. The Caro GreenStone branch spent their time before the holidays decorating an award-winning gingerbread house that brought home the title of first place! Along with the title, the branch received a $1,500 prize to donate back into the community.
The winning gingerbread village designed by the GreenStone Caro Branch employees
“When we entered into the competition, we knew we wanted to use the prize money for a food drive. The amount was enough to cover a food truck and feed hundreds of families in our community,” explained Tara Ozbat, GreenStone senior loan processor.
Tara Ozbat (far right) pictured with Community First Title Agency
The decision to sponsor a pop-up pantry through the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan was unanimous among the branch. “There’s a lot of food insecurity in our area and during COVID these food drives were scheduled weekly. But in May of 2022 the funding stopped, and we haven't seen a drive since then. The people in our community were depending on these donations and when they completely stopped it left hundreds of families without food security,” gracefully explained Amanda Matuszak, GreenStone credit analyst.
The award money gave them the ability to fund a truck with 17,000 pounds of food on it. The volunteers sort the food into categories including can goods, cereal, meat, and produce and then distribute the items during the mobile food distribution. Seven employees from the Caro branch participated in the event passing out food and working behind the scenes to ensure its success: David Ballman, Shaun Gainforth, Tara Ozbat, Amanda Matuszak, Connie Kruse, Channon Turrell, and Lauren Jacobi.
In the end, the team helped 280 families put food on their table for multiple meals and more importantly, it sparked interest to keep events like this continuing in the community.
“The church where we held the pantry was very excited to able to have this event funded again and after we hosted the event, the local food bank actually asked the church to host another one for free. The community is always grateful to have that resource when its able to be provided,” Amanda explained.
Amanda and Tara continue to volunteer in their community beyond their engagement with the pantry. “Knowing that I’m making a difference in the lives of others is one of the most rewarding aspects of volunteering for me,” said Tara.
One of GreenStone's CoreFour Values is Getting Involved and we're proud that our employees support the communities we serve through a variety of avenues, including leading events like this. Learn more about our community outreach and engagement efforts by visiting Outreach | GreenStone FCS.
