Lend a Hand!
Farm Credit supports efforts for military personnel, Tempe residents
Farm Credit Services Southwest often lends a hand to various community programs, sometimes beyond our local service area. Here are two examples of recent efforts:
Cell Phones for Soldiers
Darlene Locken, FCSSW’s assistant vice president of operations, has organized the collection of old cell phones for “Cell Phones for Soldiers,” a program created by two Massachusetts teenagers who wanted to help soldiers serving overseas call friends and family back home. The two teens started with just the change in their piggy banks, snack money from school friends and local donations. Shortly thereafter, they began soliciting donations of used cell phones. Two years later, their organization has collected cell phones and accessories from drop-off sites across the country, and used the proceeds to distribute more than 40,000 calling cards to soldiers stationed in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
You can help, too! Our staff is collecting used cell phones, accessories, chargers, batteries, blackberries, PDAs and pagers from employees, families and friends. To join our effort, please bring any of these items to your local Farm Credit Services Southwest branch office by October 15. We will package and ship all donations to Cell Phones for Soldiers.
Tempe Community Action
We were happy to help some Tempe area citizens beat Arizona’s summer heat by donating supplies and cash to the Tempe Community Action Agency. With $380 in staff and association donations, loan officer Dave Penney and legal specialist Lori Swanson bought ample supplies of water, Gatorade, sun block and lip balm. And they still had enough left to donate $135 in cash, which agency director of operations Sue Ringler used to purchase bus vouchers for low-income citizens who ordinarily walk to work in the heat.
Sue said, “It was like Christmas! We were thrilled by the donation, particularly since we were almost out of water.”
For more on how you can help the Tempe Community Action Agency, log on to their Web site at www.tempeaction.org.