Jeremy Ratliff
Reporter
On Monday, Aug. 13, employees of Church Mutual Insurance Company volunteered to step up in support of Operation Homefront’s Back to School Brigade; a campaign to distribute donated school supplies to military children across the country.
Participating Dollar Tree stores are a huge factor in the campaign, as they are the collection points for items donated. Last Monday morning, the supplies were brought to CMI’s Merrill headquarters where they were sorted by employee volunteers. Then in a matter of just a little over an hour, 20 employees packed 300 backpacks with various supplies such as notebooks, markers, crayons and scissors. Each backpack will later be distributed to a military child of various ages across the state and the Midwest.
“Volunteering in our community is what we do and is a part of mission here at Church Mutual,” explains Corporate Communications Consultant Jennifer Johnson. “We enjoy giving back and helping out wherever we can. Our tag line is ‘Protecting the Greater Good’ and the military serves the greater good. It falls in our vision to take the opportunity to assist Operation Homefront. We are just happy to be able to help and serve, those who serve others.”
Operation Homefront is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable and secure military families so they can thrive — not simply struggle to get by — in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. For over 15 years, they have provided programs that offer: RELIEF (through Critical Financial Assistance and transitional housing programs), RESILIENCY (through permanent housing and caregiver support services) and RECURRING FAMILY SUPPORT programs and services throughout the year that help military families overcome the short-term bumps in the road so they don’t become long-term chronic problems. Operation Homefront has consistently earned high ratings from leading charity rating services, including Charity Navigator, which gave OH four stars for 11 consecutive years for superior service and accountability. At Operation Homefront, 92 percent of expenditures goes directly toward delivering programs and services to the military families who need it most.