It’s Wednesday, and that should definitely mean you’re getting a head start on weekend plans. Me too! My house is full of family visiting from Maryland, so if the warm weather sticks, I plan to play tour guide and go enjoy Talkeetna, Girdwood, or somewhere of the like.

Speaking of your favorite two days of the week – last weekend, a group of Credit Union 1 employees made great plans to help out at the “From Alaska with Love” fundraiser held at the Northway Mall in Anchorage! This fundraiser benefitted victims of the earthquake in Haiti and Officer Jason Allen who was recently shot in Anchorage.

That being said, today’s blog is a GUEST BLOG! A few of our lovely volunteers from the weekend have contributed their thoughts on how the fundraiser went. I hope you’ll be interested, inspired, or encouraged by their positive remarks to volunteer at an event of your very own! Check it out:

“I had an absolute blast. …Kudos to the organizers, the community and the volunteers.” – Bev Morrell, CU1 Abbott Branch Manager

“The “From Alaska With Love” event gave Alaskans a chance to see the enormous talent our youth have, and that the littlest amount of support encourages them to continue to strive to better themselves and stay out of trouble. The donations for the fundraiser came pouring in, whether it was through the $1 raffle, $1 bingo, or the silent auction, or even just random people coming by to make their contributions. It was very touching to see that Alaskans can come together to support the cause, whatever it may be. This time, the donations went to Haiti and Officer Allen. It was expressed numerous times the amount of thanks to everyone that attended and contributed to their fundraising efforts. The host of the event (Kim Mendez) became emotional because she was so touched by the turnout and that she, along with the rest of us, were trying to make a difference. And no matter how much money we raised, or how many people showed up, we all made a difference.” – Brandi Avery, CU1 Records Clerk

“The event turned out to be really entertaining. I thought it was really cool how numerous people came to our table to just donate money or they would purchase raffle tickets and give them away to other people that were there. It was also nice to see the variety of local talent that we have in Anchorage. It was nice to see how supportive people were who came to the event.” – Nina Zamarov, CU1 Consumer Loan Processor

Ahhhh…. Isn’t that great to hear! Seems to me that if you’re looking for an easy way to feel good about yourself, you life, and your community, social service is a great way to go.