Drive up, drop off | How Raymond James associates and advisors in Memphis are impacting their communities through food and supply drives
Hundreds of employees donated food and supplies to Mid-South Food Bank.
Raymond James associates and advisors practice social distancing while volunteering to load donations.
Raymond James associates, advisors and leaders teamed up in Memphis to show their commitment to serving the communities in which they live and work: They organized a drive-up food and supply drive to help feed those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The drive followed a similar effort by St. Petersburg associates. In March, St. Pete associates and leaders organized a drive-up food and supply drive at the firm’s corporate headquarters to collect food and personal hygiene supplies totaling nearly 10,000 pounds, which directly benefitted the St. Petersburg Free Clinic and Metropolitan Ministries. The success and community impact quickly caught on amongst teams across the country, inspiring others such as the Raymond James Memphis team to coordinate their own food and supply drives.
On May 21, over 100 employees and clients lined up in their vehicles at the Raymond James Ridgeway branch to drop off food and supplies benefitting Mid-South Food Bank. In one afternoon, volunteers collected over 3,000 pounds of food, or more than 2,000 meals.
In addition to the food and supply drive, associates and advisors organized an internal fundraising campaign to garner further support. Along with a Raymond James corporate donation, the firm raised more than $170,000 for Mid-South Food Bank. Collectively, these efforts will provide more than 500,000 meals to Mid-South families at a time when they’re needed most.
“The monetary donations and leadership gifts are a great example of the love and commitment our entire Raymond James family has for our city and is a testament to our desire to give back to our community,” said Bob Coleman, managing director and Memphis Tower site manager.
Mid-South Food Bank supports 31 counties where more than 370,000 people, or 17.8% of the population, are food insecure. “It’s a tragedy,” said Memphis Ridgeway Complex Manager Field Norris as volunteers collected food from car trunks. “The rate of child food insecurity is 21.6%, meaning more than 110,000 Mid-South children are food insecure. That’s something we need to work on as a community regardless of COVID-19. Hopefully, this is the first food drive of many.”
Raymond James Cares
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