ROCHELLE — The spirit of giving continued Friday as a local homeless shelter received donations from two local organizations.

Central Bank’s Community Bank President Jeff Glen presented members of the Rochelle Rescue Mission with a check for $5,000. The bank is also donating $1,000 each year for the next five years. Glen explained the bank structured the donation amounts knowing the initial shelter startup costs tend to be higher.

“Central Bank is happy to support such a worthy endeavor, giving back to the community,” Glen said. “It is important to Central Bank…they make a huge commitment to communities.”

Americold

Dan Lundquist, General Manager of Americold, along with several Americold employees presented a check for nearly $1,000 to the rescue mission’s representatives as well.

Lundquist explained the funds were generated through the employee-driven “Twelve Days of Christmas Community Giving Program.” For the 12 days leading up to Christmas, employees at Americold’s two facilities in Rochelle participate in a raffle drawing. Each day employees purchased tickets for daily prizes, such as Americold t-shirts and sweatshirts.

Along with a chance at winning Americold gear, raffle entrants also had a chance to win the grand prize worth $250. The proceeds of the event were given to a non-profit organization chosen by the employees.

Lundquist said about 200 people represent the Americold employees in Rochelle, voting to choose the Rochelle Rescue Mission as beneficiary to the program this year. Last year the employees chose the Rochelle Area Community Foundation.

“This is another way for the employees to have fun, break of the monotony of the holidays,” Lundquist said. “We have had success with it. It’s something we would like to continue…it’s a way to give back to the community.”

Rescue mission

Mission executive directors Bobby and Megan Gardner, along with board members Dan Sergeant and Michele Glen expressed gratitude to the organizations’ donations.

“We are honored and extremely grateful to have been given these donations,” Sergeant said. “It’s humbling.”

“We are excited to work with the community and provide a place for those in need,” explained Michele. “This is to give people a temporary resting spot and to let them know that people care.”

Volunteer opportunities

The mission is holding two training sessions for anyone interested in volunteering. The first is on Sunday, Jan. 7 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., along with one on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 5:30 p.m.

Bobby explained their goal of the sessions is to determine the amount of volunteers, discuss the volunteer shift hours, their responsibilities, and the mentoring opportunities that will be available.

“The shifts during the day will be geared toward building life…finances, resume writing, job searching,” Bobby said. “We will have many mentoring opportunities available for community members to get involved.”

Interested volunteers are asked to attend at least one training session. Email an RSVP to rochellerescuemission@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page, Rochelle Rescue Mission.

About Central Bank

Central Bank Illinois is headquartered in Geneseo, Illinois with full service branch locations in the Illinois communities of Andover, Ashton, Fulton, Geneseo, Oregon, Peru, Princeton and Rochelle, with a limited-purpose loan office in Prophetstown.  Central Bank has grown to approximately $940 million in bank assets, along with $245 million in trust relationships since first opening in 1907. Central Bank is a full service commercial bank providing a complete line of banking and trust services to individuals and businesses. Member FDIC/Equal Housing Lender/Equal Opportunity Employer.

About Americold

Americold is the global leader in temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics to the food industry, offering the most comprehensive warehousing, transportation and logisitics solutions in the world. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Americold owns and operates over 160 temperature-controlled warehouses, with more than one billion cubic feet of storage, in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina, with a JV in China. Americold’s facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors, and retailers to consumers. Americold serves more than 2,500 customers and employs 11,000 associates worldwide.