Hundreds of Turkeys Donated by Charter Oak Employees, Members

It began as a way to at once both help those in need at Thanksgiving and honor the former bank CEO.  Now, five years in, it’s an all-hands food drive challenge where goodwill and bragging rights are at stake.

Here's the full press release from Charter Oak: 

Charter Oak Federal Credit Union continued its Thanksgiving tradition for the fifth consecutive year by donating $3,000 worth of turkeys to the Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center in New London.

This tradition began five years ago in honor of Charter Oak’s former CEO, Larry Hertell, and has since grown into a company-wide food drive, supported by employees and members.

In addition, each year Charter Oak’s Community Outreach Committee invites all departments, company-wide, to participate in Charter Oak’s Fixins’ Food Wars, a challenge that invites all departments to donate non-perishable food items, which can be paired with a traditional Thanksgiving meal. This challenge gives employees a chance to win department-wide bragging rights for having donated the most items, but more importantly, the opportunity to make the holidays enjoyable for those who are in need.

This year, employees donated more than 710 pounds of non-perishable food items to accompany the 320 turkeys that were purchased with our donation. In addition, members purchased $1 paper turkeys, and helped Charter Oak raise an additional $340 for local food pantries.

Charter Oak is proud to support local food pantries during the holidays and throughout the year. To learn more about Charter Oak’s Community Giving Program, visit CharterOak.org/community/the-charter-oak-giving-tree.