Good Starts Here: Celebrating Five Years of Good is everywhere

From feeding families to supporting local nonprofits, every act of service helps build stronger communities. In this special VyCast episode, we celebrate five years of Good is everywhere and highlight the partnerships, volunteers and everyday heroes making a difference across Florida and Georgia. Discover how you can be part of the movement and help prove that good truly is everywhere

#VyCast #GoodIsEverywhere #GoodStartsHere #VyStarCU #CommunityImpact #Volunteerism #StrongerTogether #MakingADifference #FoodDrive #EndHunger

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Welcome to VyCast, where we bring a blend of knowledge, expertise and fun to the world of finance. Stay tuned for our exciting episode, packed with insights and practical tips that will help you achieve your financial goals. Welcome to VyCast I'm Charlene Shirk. Today we're talking about the power of community and how small acts of kindness can make a big difference. Before we get started. Be sure to subscribe to VyStar YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode of VyCast. Well, September marks the kickoff of VyStar's fifth annual Good Is everywhere initiative, a celebration of service, volunteerism and community impact. The community impact part is already underway with the Good Starts Here Food Drive helping support local families facing food insecurity. That's why today we're talking about the growing need for hunger relief, the impact of community partnerships and how everyone can get involved during this year's Good Is everywhere campaign. And finally, about the new VyStar Volunteer Center. Well, joining us today to talk about all of this stuff is Kamal Gaspar VyStar’s Vice President of Community Engagement, and Jackie Culver, Senior Vice President at Feeding Northeast Florida. Thank you both so much for being here today, for having us. Yeah, it's thrilled to be here. And so let's talk Kemal let's kick things off with you. For those of those out there listening to us. And and good is everywhere. What is that all. But even though we were in our fifth year, it never hurts to give somebody a little backstory. So it's a milestone year and Good Is Everywhere is a coordinated effort as an organization to ask every employee to volunteer. We also provide free experiences for our members and members of the community. There's over 30 free experiences this year, and that's our way to say thank you to our members and bring our members and members of the community, together with our nonprofits, to explore the good that's really happening in our communities. And this is the way that we say thank you, because our purpose is to do good. Our core values of to lead by example. And that's not something we do just one day. It's something that we do 365 days of the year, 24/7. We live at our purpose every day. And so it's our way of saying thank you to the members and members of the community for supporting VyStar and aligning ourselves with those nonprofits that are really doing the work, that true work in the community, so that we can help them thrive. And this is from Florida to Georgia. Yes. And this has got our we've got mayors almost in every community doing proclamations. We've got member events, we've got volunteerism. It truly is a celebration. And and let me bring you into the conversation, Jackie, for those of you who may not be familiar with Feeding Northeast Florida, I mean, the title kind of says it all right there, right? But tell us about your mission and the role that it's planning to address food insecurity across the region. So our mission is to use food as a catalyst to improve lives and communities. So if you think about the basic needs, if you don't have food, if you don't have shelter, everything else is just frosting on a cake, right? Just use a food pun. Well, if you're hungry, you can't even think straight. You can't focus on anything. It's so important. So we are your regional Feeding America affiliate. So Feeding America has a food bank. It covers every inch of the United States and Puerto Rico. So we serve the 12 county area here in Northeast Florida and into Central Florida, all the way out to Alachua, Gainesville. And we're the logistics operation behind all the food pantries. When you go to a local church, a school, a community food giveaway, we are the ones providing the food so that it can get out to the people who need it. All right. So let's talk a little bit about providing food to our folks and our communities. Kemal, Why was it important to kick off this milestone year of Good is everywhere with the Good Starts Here Food drive. Yeah. So we talked about our members being able to take advantage of the free experiences, our employees. We asked every employee to volunteer during Good is Everywhere. But we said, how can our members and members of the community get involved to do good? And September is Hunger Action Awareness Month, correct? So we're going to collect donations. We're partnering with 50 plus nonprofit food banks across Florida and Georgia, and we're going to donate those food items in September during Good is Everywhere. But more importantly, it's Hunger Action Awareness Month. And so that's going to show VyStar’s commitment to those that are most vulnerable, that are living paycheck to paycheck, that are underserved. And again, it's a way for our VyStar’s members and members of the community to get involved as part of good is everywhere, and particularly in those ALICE communities. You want to just talk a little bit about that? Yeah, Alice is asset limited, income constrained. But these individuals are employed and as individuals that are living at or below the poverty line or one paycheck away from homelessness. And we were talking earlier before the VyCast, you know, if you don't have food, that is a necessity. And how do you go to work? How are you productive? How do you study in school? Focus. Yeah. Correct. And so we're aligning ourselves, putting our arms around those nonprofit partners and those food banks that are doing the critical work to improve our communities. All right. Well, and Jackie, why are community partnerships like this one so important to meet the growing need for food assistance? So, you know, unfortunately, we are the fastest growing food bank in the Feeding America network. Really. And when I found you say in Jacksonville, ours. Yes. Feeding northeast Florida as. And when I found that out, you know, honestly, my first reaction was like, oh, we're number one. And then you think, oh gosh, that's terrible, that the need is so great in this area. And we're we rely on our community partners in a myriad of different ways. So we use over 14,000 volunteers. Last year, most of the food that we distributed is donated food. So if you go to the grocery store and you're going to buy chicken and you look at the date to see, is this a good date, it has to be sold by the state. If it doesn't sell by that date, then it's frozen and it comes to your regional food bank. So that's just one example of how we work with community partners. We work with VyStar and VyStar has done over 250 volunteer hours so far this year, before we're even getting into the bulk of what we do with you guys, we couldn't do it alone. There's no way we'd be able to manage such a big, big area without our partners. Well, you segway into the next question perfectly because you talked about all the volunteers. So let's talk about the ribbon cutting for the VyStar Volunteer Center. Talk about the space and how it's going to be utilized. So for those of you who are lucky enough to have volunteered at our old facility in the last two years, we've moved from two small warehouses of about 60,000ft²to a new, state of the art, 110,000 square foot warehouse. It is amazing. We've been able to do so much more for our community, bring in more volunteers, bring in more food, which means that we can distribute more food. And key to that, as I said, volunteers are extremely important to us and we were able to partner with VyStar for our VyStar Volunteer Center. So it's a place where our volunteers can come in where if you have a high schooler who is looking for hours, it's a safe place for them to be. If they're going to work multiple shifts, they can rest, have a drink, air conditioning, learn more about the food bank and it is just a wonderful addition to help us grow and reach more people. I love that idea. I think that's great. Now let's talk a little bit about maybe, Kemal, we can put a bug in people's ear out there in the community that maybe they go and they, they donate food or they volunteer to distribute food. And then as a reward, they get a free experience through VyStar. So part of it is everywhere are providing those free experiences to members and then to the community. So share a little bit about that. Maybe that's the reward for going and volunteering. It's a great reward because we have over 30 free experiences. And the thought is our nonprofit partners, there are boots on the ground, and they're creating experiences every day. And we want to shine a light on those nonprofit partners that are doing amazing things. And so in September. September 9th through the 26th, we'll have over 30 free experiences across our footprint in Florida and Georgia at like the Brevard Zoo, the Central Florida Zoo, the Jacksonville Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, Monster Jam at the Gas South Arena in Atlanta, Monster Jam at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, free experience at the Tallahassee Museum over on the Panhandle 30 plus free experiences. and our community partnerships that we have. And so Orlando Science Center, Orlando Science Center, Mennello museum, Cade Museum, Gainesville, Yeah. I think I saw Atlanta Ballet like that about UF football and FSU football. So go Noles, go Gators, whatever your preference is. So so like arts and culture, science, hands on experiences. So it's such a wonderful way to thank our members for being a part of VyStar and helping us grow and helping us put us in a position where we can help Feeding Northeast Florida and organizations like yours. So before we wrap up, if you're going to leave us with one message about fighting hunger and supporting organizations like Feeding Northeast Florida, what would that be? Jackie, can I have more than one? Sure. Okay, good. Well, Kemal stole my thunder. Something that I really like to talk about are the people that we serve. And it is primarily that ALICE population that he was talking about and and realizing that it's your neighbors. You know, it's not just this person who's living on the street or someone you've never met. It's it's people out in the community that need this help. It could just be a one time help, or it could be, you know, for a year that they need help. But for people to realize that, that this is something that's really helping your neighbors and also the opportunity to volunteer is really fun. We have a great volunteer team that makes it a lot of fun for you. You can volunteer in the warehouse, or you can go out to mobile pantries and work directly with the neighbors that we're serving, which I mean is an amazing experience. You can also donate food, that food that you're not using in your your house, your refrigerator, etc. you can bring food in, and you can also make monetary donations that go towards paying for gas for trucks and keeping the refrigerator working so that we're able to serve people. So there are so many opportunities to get involved. And, you know, you often find people who have been in need them selves are the are the busiest volunteers ever because they know how important it is. Right. And that connection and that support from your community. Because sometimes when you're in need, you feel like you're the only person and you feel very alone, and it can be isolating. And the volunteer community and all really the communities we serve. Kemal, we've seen just step up and be amazing. And as we wrap up, tell folks how they can donate food and how they can get involved and how you hope you know good is everywhere. This is on the fifth year. It's really embracing the whole community and getting the whole community involved. What do you hope people feel inspired by or what hope they get out of this experience? I hope what they get out of it and Jackie said at the ALICE community and we talked about food and necessities. And if you can't afford food, if you don't have anywhere to live a stable home, you're not thinking about visiting these free experiences or experiences at nonprofits, concerts, events, etc. so it also aligns with that is that a lot of people in our communities can't afford to go and visit these great attractions, so we're providing those free experiences to those that may not be able to afford it. So it aligns with what we're talking about with the Good Starts Here Food Drive. And it's a great way to explore the great things that are happening in our cities, in Florida, in Georgia, that people may not know that these great concerts and these events are happening and these create jobs, and they bring people to our cities, and they put eyes on our cities, and we want to attract people to the communities that we call home. So our communities continue to grow. And so that's really full circle moment for us. Why we're aligning our nonprofit partners with members of the community to come together to explore and enjoy the good. And then as far as donating for the food banks, all the five star branches, they actually selected, the food bank that they would like their donations to go to, right in their own community. Correct. And so our branch managers, our branch teams, they understand who is most vulnerable in our communities and the great work that our nonprofits are doing. So they selected the nonprofits. You can go to that branch on our website. The Good is Everywhere website good starts here. There's a link to the branch locations that has the specific food bank that that branch donations are going to, and that's also where you can find the free experience as well once they become open. Well, thanks for doing all the housekeeping for me I appreciate it. Well, thank you both so much for joining us. This is going to be an exciting couple of months to see all the community get engaged and all the people being impacted. We're excited. We're so grateful for you. Thank you for being a great partner to us Jackie and Feeding Northeast Florida. All right. Thank you for joining us on this episode of VyCast. And if you enjoyed today's conversation. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And like what you heard. A quick rating review helps more people find the show. You can also follow VyStar Credit Union on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and share topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next time on cast.