The holiday season is upon us, a time not only for gift-giving, but for reflection and thanksgiving among our staff. This year, we decided to spend some time volunteering for one of the most deserving charities in our community: Mission of Hope.
Mission of Hope is a Knoxville-based non-profit organization that delivers food, clothing, toys and school supplies to needy families across East Tennessee and rural Kentucky. It also helps provide home repair, relocation services, assistance with job searching and educational scholarships for qualifying children.
According to Mission of Hope, 80% of the region’s residents no longer have jobs in the coal mining industry as they once did, leaving many families struggling to put food on the table or keep a roof over their heads.
“It is hard to believe the dire poverty and extreme living conditions that continue to exist in rural Appalachia,” Angie Droz, TriMech Marketing Director, said. “Mission of Hope seeks to deliver hope to those families, and TriMech is privileged to provide help to that cause.”
From left to right: Jake Kissel, Angie Droz, Merri Lou Minor, Tom Wilson, Katie Stephens, Kevin Wilson
Each December, Mission of Hope seeks to lessen the burden on these families and give them hope through their annual Christmas campaigns, such as their Blue Barrel food collection drive.
Six members of our Knoxville team spent Tuesday afternoon organizing, packing and securing boxes of food items for distribution. With the end-of-year crunch upon us, they didn’t think twice about taking some time for this worthy cause.
“As a dad, the fact that Mission of Hope primarily serves elementary school-age children resonated with me,” Tom Wilson, Account Manager, said.
“I learned a lot while I was there. It’s a much bigger operation than I thought. Just in the few hours we were there, two truckloads of donations were received and had to be sorted. I enjoyed the feeling of us working together as a team. Getting the focus off of myself and my own little world for a while was very refreshing.”
Jake Kissel, Account Manager, echoed these feelings.
“Sometimes the work isn’t glamorous, like ensuring the shelves are stocked for the folks that are filling boxes to be donated to families in need,” Jake Kissel, Account Manager for TriMech, said.
“I volunteered my time to Mission of Hope because no one should be without food, ever. Although I have never experienced a time when I couldn’t afford to buy groceries, I know that if I were in that situation, I would be forever grateful to organizations like Mission of Hope.”
If you would like to help Mission of Hope, click here to learn about volunteer opportunities or donate today.
Happy holidays, and Merry Christmas! 🎅🎄
