During Power of the Hour, Interra staff members donated nearly 300 hours, working on service projects for the benefit of six area organizations, and the clients they serve.

GOSHEN — An hour can be powerful when almost 300 people come together to do good. That’s just what happened at Interra Credit Union’s recent annual staff development day. During Power of the Hour, employees participated in projects to help six different organizations and the clients they serve.

Among the project activities, nearly 60 fleece blankets were tied and donated to Project Linus, which will be distributed to a variety of local agencies. Interra donated supplies and volunteers made magnet packs for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elkhart County. Another volunteer group participated in a project to cut images for Ryan’s Place, which will be used for grief counseling activities. 

In addition, The Window received 1,500 pounds of dry rice and beans, repackaged into one-pound bags for distribution through the Food Pantry. “That amount will last about six months,” noted Ed Swartley, Executive Director. 

The more than 50 volunteers who worked on the Soup of Success project, assembled Christmas trees, cut cellophane and ribbon for shower melts and made coasters. “The volunteers made almost all the trees we will need for the year,” report Betsy Ayrea Delfine, director of Soup of Success.

The Blue Star Mothers of St. Joe Valley will deliver special care packages to wounded servicemen and servicewomen at Walter Reed Military Medical Center who are housed for long-term medical and rehabilitation stays. Under the direction of Interra’s own Sandy Boldt and through the Hometown Giving holiday project, they will receive buckets of cleaning supplies, kitchen and bath towels, oven mitts and silverware. In addition, they wrote 100 cards of thanks and encouragement. 

“Providing community service is a part of our culture and our investment in the communities we serve,” noted Karen Steffensen, vice president of communications and community engagement. “Power of the Hour is an important component of our staff development day.”

Interra, headquartered in Goshen, has assets of $1.5 billion. The credit union serves more than 86,000 members at 15 offices in Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Marshall and Noble counties and via a suite of robust electronic services at interracu.com.