Ambassadors in the Nebraska north region recently teamed up with ambassadors in western Iowa from the Council Bluffs office to co-host a fundraising drive to benefit the Food Bank for the Heartland and raise awareness about food insecurity throughout the region.
To raise money, the ambassador team organized a fun challenge incorporating some friendly, team-spirited competition in honor of the Iowa vs. Nebraska football game on Nov. 25. Starting on Nov. 1 through Nov. 18, employees throughout eastern Nebraska and western Iowa were encouraged to donate for their favorite team – the Cornhuskers or the Hawkeyes. Fans raising the most money to donate to the Food Bank of the Heartland won a season's worth of bragging rights and unlimited Thanksgiving goodwill.
The Huskers proved victorious on and off the field besting the Hawkeyes 24 to 17 at the big game and by collecting $475 in donations. Iowa fans contributed $245 in honor of the Hawkeyes, making the total donation to the Food Bank of the Heartland an impressive $720!
The Black Hills Energy give back didn't stop with a donation. The ambassador team joined forces for a donation check presentation and a Team Black Hills Energy volunteer day at the Food Bank for the Heartland (located in Omaha).
The Black Hills Energy volunteer team rocked the assembly line and put together a whomping 1,336 weekend food kits as part of the Backpack Program. The packs are handed out to students throughout the metro area. The Backpack Program, a partnership with area schools, offers packs of weekend breakfasts and lunches to children. Each week during the school year, 8,381 packs — equaling 33,524 meals — of easy-to-prepare or ready-to-eat nutritious food are distributed to children in 253 schools in 112 school districts in Nebraska and western Iowa.
The Black Hills Energy team averaged 41.2 kits per person, which put our group in the "high performing" category!
Food Bank for the Heartland serves 93 counties throughout Nebraska and southwest Iowa, partnering with local food pantries in many of the communities we serve in the north region and Council Bluffs metro (and beyond). Food Bank provides food and other necessities to families struggling to afford these items.
Why money and not food, you ask? Monetary donations allow the Food Bank of the Heartland to purchase much needed perishable items such as milk and meat. The Food Bank is able to purchase in bulk stretching every $1 you donate into four nutritious meals for families in need.
Game score
Huskers 24
Iowa 17
Donations received as of November 28
Nebraska Huskers = $475
Iowa Hawkeyes = $245
We partner with our communities and customers, providing the kind of energy that fuels those areas and the lives of those we serve. Feel free to share the stories and photos. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest for more!
Positive Energy
-
What does the future of energy look like in Colorado? That was the question posed recently during a panel discussion in Castle Rock, Colorado, and after a particularly contentious legislative session that saw passage of a utility regulation bill. Nick Wagner, our Vice President of Regulatory… -
Employees from our Fountain, Colorado, operations center recently spent a long day volunteering at the Fountain Creek Nature Center. The Nature Center is part of the greater Fountain Creek Regional Park and offers a variety of outdoor experiences and information on aquatic macroinvertebrates, birds… -
On May 8, teams at Black Hills Energy service centers in Rapid City, Custer and Sturgis – all in South Dakota – helped give away trees through the Energy Saving Trees program. In partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, Black Hills Energy distributed 200 trees to families and organizations… -
South Dakota ambassadors and Horizon Point employees took time over their lunch hour to make tie blankets for the Children's Home Society. They made 10 twin-sized blankets. The Children's Home Society gives a new blanket to each child on their residential campus, in their therapeutic foster care…