For years, Pastor Bonnie Turner has been helping families in need during the back-to-school season by providing backpacks.
It’s the busiest time of year for the Blessing Corner.
There are many sponsors that keep the event going every year, including Mazda, Wal-Mart, Grapevine Oil and Union Bank.
Pastor Bonnie says giving kids new backpacks gets them excited for the first day back to school.
However, when she found out many of them continued to go back to school in old clothing, she wanted to do even more.
She mentioned this idea to some employees at Union Bank, and those employees decided to help, too.
“You can count me in,” Ericka Navarrete, a senior relationship banker at Union Bank said.
But these employees didn’t plan a fundraiser or seek financial help elsewhere – they reached into their own pockets every Friday for eight weeks straight.
“What Union Bank did was so over the top,” Pastor Bonnie said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Union Bank employees were able to pool enough of their own money to get 100 new outfits and pairs of shoes for kids heading back to school.
Andrea Tovar, a mom of two young children, said this act of kindness means a lot to her.
“It means so much to see my kids happy, (the) smile on their face, their eyes widen up,” Tovar said.
Seeing how happy it makes local parents and kids makes it worth it for these Union Bank employees.
“It was always just about the kids,” Matt Hewett, the branch manager at Union Bank said.
If you or someone you know has done an act of kindness, let us know at https://www.turnto23.com/hello-humankindness.