Nuvision Credit Union's Commitment to Fighting Hunger: A Year in Review

Nuvision Credit Union is proud to announce the incredible impact our commitment to fighting hunger in our communities has had in 2024. Supporting people facing hardship in our communities is something we believe strongly about. Thanks to our members and team members, we were able to support local families and make a real difference for those in need throughout the year.

Supporting Families Across California

More than 300,000 people in Orange County and 2 million people in LA County are food insecure. Hunger affects the old and young alike, including families with children, seniors with fixed incomes, veterans, people with disabilities, jobless, and those who are homeless.

To help fight hunger, Nuvision teamed up with Bracken’s Kitchen in Southern California earlier this year, in both March and April, to help prepare hot meals that were delivered to families. Nuvision volunteers helped with prepping food, and sorting ingredients for various meals. Volunteers also helped package the meals into containers, and organized it for delivery to families.

Here's a video about the great work with Bracken’s Kitchen.

Bracken's Kitchen is a non-profit organization that’s dedicated to feeding those in need, rescuing today’s food and training tomorrow’s chefs.

Through food rescuing, culinary training and community feeding programs they are committed to rescuing, repurposing, and restoring both food and lives.

Nuvision also supported Bracken's Kitchen's annual Hungry Games 7.0 fundraiser, which provided a wonderful evening of food and fun for a great cause. The fundraiser event took place on Thursday, September 12th, 2024, at Brackens Kitchen's commercial kitchen in Garden Grove. During the event, 500 guests served as judges, as popular local chefs competed for the prestigious title of "Hungry Games Champion." The evening featured delicious food, music, and a casual, fun atmosphere, while supporting Bracken’s Kitchen’s commitment to community feeding, food rescue, and culinary training.

In December, Nuvision volunteers helped Robyne's Nest in Huntington Beach put together 200 holiday food bags for local students in need. These food bags will be distributed during the upcoming holiday/winter school breaks to ensure local high school students impacted by food insecurity have enough to eat. Thanks to the dedication of our Nuvision volunteers, these students will have food to get them through difficult times during school breaks. To further assist Robyne’s Nest, Nuvision also donated $1,500 to help expand the holiday food drive’s outreach to students.

In the Bay Area, Nuvision supported both Loaves and Fishes in the city of Martinez and the Berkeley Food Network in Berkeley, donating $1,500 to each organization during Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies at our new Martinez and Berkeley branch locations.

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES IN ALASKA & WYOMING

Thanks to the generous support of our members and team members, we were able to collect over 3,000 pounds of food for seven community food banks during our recent Help Fight Hunger Drives in Alaska and Wyoming. Together, our efforts have had a meaningful impact, supporting those in need and strengthening our community bonds.

In Wyoming, our efforts and outreach extended to multiple communities, ensuring widespread support in Casper and Cheyenne. Our local branch teams hosted food drives supporting Joshua's Storehouse in Casper and the Friday Food Bag Foundation in Cheyenne.

In addition to the food drives with both organizations, we were proud to make a $3,500.00 donation to our longtime partner the Friday Food Bag Foundation, which provides meals for children and families facing hardship in Wyoming. We also donated $500 to Joshua’s Storehouse to help provide extra food during our food drive, as well as $1,500 to the Francis E Self American Legion Post 6 for their Empty Stocking Holiday Meal Fund.

In Alaska, our drive benefitted several food banks, including The Children’s Lunchbox in Anchorage, Matsu Food Bank in Wasilla, Fairbanks Community Food Bank, Southeast Alaska Food Bank in Juneau, and the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. Nuvision was honored to present each food bank with a $500 donation in addition to the food collected during the drives.

One of the highlights of our initiatives this year was our $5,000 donation to The Children’s Lunchbox in Anchorage for their pantry pack program. The pantry packs, containing a week’s worth of shelf-stable meals, are distributed to families throughout Alaska. Our Anchorage team enjoyed the opportunity to volunteer at Children’s Lunchbox to help pack these boxes of food. This year, in collaboration with the Anchorage Fire Fighters, Anchorage Police, and our own team, we hosted two volunteer programs with Children's Lunchbox that involved over 30 dedicated volunteers.

We were also honored to join forces with The Anchorage Fire Department, Matson, and Peppercini's Catering to serve a special Thanksgiving "Meal of Gratitude" to the students and staff at Anchorage’s Tyson Elementary School in November. As part of Tyson Elementary's Indigenous Celebrations, the holiday luncheon brought our community together in a spirit of gratitude and unity. Together, we served over 400 delicious holiday meals, spreading joy and togetherness with every plate.

Everyone was smiling from ear to ear, kids and volunteers alike. Many of the kids had never tried holiday foods like turkey or cranberries before, and all of them were so appreciative. One child said it was the best day ever!,” said Jason Dolph from the Anchorage Fire Department. A heartfelt thank you to all the amazing volunteers and partners who made this day so memorable for not only the school and its students, but for our team.

At Nuvision Credit Union, we believe we can make a positive difference in our communities by helping those who don’t have access to nutritious meals. We are honored and thankful that our members and team stepped up to help feed our neighbors. This year’s success is a testament to the power of community and our members, and the impact we can make when we come together for a common cause. Thank you to our members, team, and community partners for fighting hunger with us!