Tag Archives: Volunteerism

Give Back This Holiday Season

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Here at VCNB, some of our departments like to celebrate the holidays by volunteering together. For example, our Marketing Department does something different every year. They have baked cookies for residents at the Ronald McDonald House and volunteered at the Fairfield County Meals on Wheels by stuffing bags and lending a hand with BINGO. They will tell you that giving of your time to help others is a wonderful thing to do but it seems especially rewarding during the holiday season.

If you look around your own community, you will find endless ways to give back whether it’s by volunteering with an organization or finding and filling a need on your own. Here are some ideas to help you find just the right volunteer project for you.

Booster Clubs – Wherever you see a high school sporting event, odds are there’s a concessions stand that’s operated by volunteers who have kids involved in the sport. A shortage of volunteers might leave the same few folks working every game, unable to just relax and enjoy the event. Food preppers, runners and cashiers are always welcome!

Animal Shelters – Most animal shelters need volunteers to help with everything from cleaning cages to walking dogs or playing with cats. If you love animals, this could be a great way to give back and to help someone who can give you nothing in return but purrs and puppy kisses. We have one employee who often volunteers her time looking out for bunnies at her local Humane Society.

Holiday Events – Most communities have special events for the holidays. For example, McArthur has Christmas in Downtown, a one day event where there’s always a need for volunteers. From passing out programs to helping with the parade, most community events need people of all skill levels to pitch in and help make the magic happen.

Senior Center – Your local senior center could likely use some volunteers to help with their activities or to pack the blizzard bags that help seniors on days when meals-on-wheels cannot deliver.

Food Pantry – Nearly every food pantry in America needs helpers, especially these last two years when the number of people needing help has skyrocketed. Over the years, countless VCNB employees have passed out boxes of food to folks who need a helping hand.

The Places You Already Support – Whether it’s your child’s school, your church or the neighborhood library, there are needs all over your community. You just have to ask if there’s room for one more to help with their activities.

Make Up Something – Maybe you see a need in your community and feel like you can help. Picking up litter at your favorite park or making blessing bags for homeless people are two ways you can give back in an informal but meaningful way.

Nothing makes you appreciate the people in your life, the pets in your home and the food in your cupboard quite like helping someone else. Gather coworkers or family and find a project that everyone can support. You may find that you enjoy volunteering so much you want to do it more often!

Looking Back On A Year Of Giving

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Looking back on 2020, we can say this year has been unlike any other we’ve seen in our 153 year history. This global pandemic has changed the way we do business, how we are entertained, how we interact with loved ones, and in countless other ways.

It has been challenging and scary for many who are suffering economically or because of their health. That’s why we have committed to working with our customers who have struggled due to income loss this year. We also continue supporting our communities in the best way we know how – through volunteerism and monetary donations.

Our employees log hundreds of hours volunteering in their communities every year and have continued to do so when safe this year as well. You’ll find them helping at food pantries, serving on boards and lending a hand at animal shelters. They give blood, are leaders in their churches, visit nursing homes and seek other ways to make a difference.

Our branches have donated nearly $300,000 to causes important to their communities. Those causes come in many forms. We have supported events like the drive-thru Pataskala Cookie Walk, a Chamber event that gave local families a socially distanced and fun way to welcome the holidays.

We bought livestock at county fairs, supporting the age old tradition of 4-H members learning useful skills and responsibility while caring for their animals.

We’ve donated to some big projects too. The Logan Theater project will provide local teens a place to go after school and a place for movies to roll and the arts to come alive in downtown Logan.

Donations were made to high school programs, libraries, and food pantries. In McArthur, we donated care packages of non-perishable food and snacks to be sent home with local kids when schools were closed.

We even gave away $2,020 to a graduating high school senior from each of the counties where we have a branch.

Supporting our local communities and people and the causes important to them is important to us. As we bid farewell to 2020, we look with hope for the new year ahead. From our bank family to yours, we wish you a new year that is happy, healthy and prosperous.

Close to Home: VCNB Volunteerism is Important

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At VCNB we encourage our employees to give back to our communities. We believe that a happy, healthy community is a good place to do business and that there is no better way to contribute to a community than through volunteerism.

Last year we had more than one hundred employees who did at least eight hours of community service. That’s more than 800 hours of time donated by our employees! The truly neat thing is that our folks contribute to all sorts of worthwhile projects.

We volunteer for animal shelters, summer reading programs and 4-H. Many of our employees work at food banks, helping to package and distribute grocery items to needy families. Some of our employees volunteer for school functions, boosters groups and even work concessions or ticket gates for high school sporting events.

We hope that our employees will give of their time to projects and organizations that are near and dear to their hearts and that will make a true difference. While we have so many employees doing good things across our seven counties, one of our most unique volunteers is Kathy Ramsay, Head Teller at our Salt Creek Banking Center in Laurelville.

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Kathy Ramsay is pictured with the quilt she made and donated to the Laurelville Fire Department. It raised $400 at auction.

Kathy is a kind hearted person who loves to sew. That’s why so many people in her family, in her community and across the world are benefactors of her hard work. Kathy makes quilts for the Quilts of Valor Project Foundation,  an organization that helps quilters like Kathy donate quilts to American soldiers who have been touched by war. Last year alone, she sent five quilts to soldiers stationed at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

But it doesn’t stop there. She donates baby quilts to Adena Hospital for little kids who need the comforting touch of home during their hospital stay. She donates handmade fleece hats for the Laurelville and Tarlton fire departments’ Toys for Tots programs and for the Sparrow House, an outreach ministry in South Perry.

This fall, she and some friends will spend a day at the elementary school in Laurelville, making hats for little kids in preschool. That’s about 60 hats these ladies will make for children between the ages of three and five. Best of all, the youngsters will pick out the fabric they like best and watch the hat be made.

She has made quilts for nearly every member of her family and commonly donates quilts for fundraisers.

This month, Kathy donated a beautiful red, white and blue Americana quilt to the Fireman’s Festival. The Fire Department auctioned the quilt at their 91st annual festival, raising $400 to help with the department’s operating expenses.

“I just really love to quilt and sew,” Ramsay said.

She estimates she has been involved in this hobby for 35 to 40 years. “I like trying new techniques, new fabrics. I’m inspired by trying new things,” she explained.