A Giving Holiday Spirit

Around this time of year, many people look for ways to give back to their communities, by shopping local, donating to local organizations and volunteering. The Durango Food Bank received an early holiday gift from Express Employment Professionals in the form of a $10,000 check. You're watching the Local News Network, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals and Serious Texas Bar-B-Q. I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

Express Employment Professionals has a, a program called Branded Blue, and this is a nonprofit. So through that, every office in North America is able to participate in this. And what Express really realized is that every franchisee owner wants to be involved in the community and give back to the community, and that's what it's for. So they put a program together to say, "When you're doing that, let us know." And then they look at what everybody's done and they pick the top three in each zone, and we had three zones.

Every year, Whitson and Express Employment Professionals of Durango work with a variety of organizations and nonprofits, in Durango from the Salvation Army bell ringing to the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast. Whitson involvement with the Durango Food Bank includes volunteering as well as offering his office as a drop-off site for food donations on days when the food bank is closed.

The, some of our workforce that we put together, I know that they, you know, we give them jobs, but they're also still going to struggle with the high cost of living here in Nevada County. So they use the food bank and we've used, they've actually been a part, or one of our clients, so we've have supplied them from time to time with individuals when they need help here and there.

Express Employment Professionals has regularly applied for the overall donation scheme. And this year they were awarded the top prize of $10,000, which also puts them in the running to receive a $25,000 award, which will be announced at the Annual Leadership Conference at the end of February.

You know, it came as a surprise to me because we do this anyway. It is not something that, that is forced or we really watch and do. It's just something we've done since the day we opened and we will continue to do that down the road.

For more information about the Durango Food Bank, you can visit the website at durangoareafoodbank.com To learn more about Express Employment Professionals and to see possible job openings in the Four Corners area, visit expresspros.com/durango Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News network. I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

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