Loaves & Fishes’ Child Nutrition Initiative has been a crucial part of our hunger-relief efforts since 2004, when it was launched to supplement the loss of school-provided lunches for students during the summer months. As the need in our community increased, the initiative expanded in 2005 to provide breakfast foods for students during the school year. Today, Loaves & Fishes provides supplemental nutrition, including milk and eggs, to nearly 10,000 local children age 18 and under in order to benefit a child’s physical, mental and intellectual growth. How are we able to accomplish this? With the help of our donors, such as Jackson National that has invested $85,000 over the past three years through its Community Fund to advance our Child Nutrition Initiative forward.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Danielle Robinson, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Jackson National, about her involvement and what makes our partnership so meaningful:
How has your work at Jackson National been fulfilling to you? What has made your work meaningful?
Helping Jackson and it’s associates support critical community and charitable initiatives is incredibly rewarding. Jackson associates are generous with their time and resources and that kind of generosity is contagious. I’ve worked with the Jackson National Community Fund and our Jackson in Action programs for nine years and in that time the program has grown substantially. That growth is driven by our associates’ desires to do more to help those in need. When I can connect an associate’s desire to help and a charity’s need for service, it’s a great day.
Jackson National employees provide much needed volunteer support throughout the country.
Working with Loaves & Fishes on the Child Nutrition Initiative is a perfect fit for Jackson’s charitable program. We have a focus to serve the needs of kids and seniors, so helping low-income youth learn about nutrition is an important effort that we are happy to support. Loaves & Fishes is not only providing nutritious food, but helping kids learn how to make healthy decisions in the future. That’s the kind of long-term impact we like to see.
What sets Jackson National apart from other businesses?
We say it all the time at Jackson that our people set us apart. Jackson associates innovate and execute at a high level, giving 110% every day. However, from my vantage point I would also say that Jackson associates are among the most generous people you’ll ever meet. They are willing to go above and beyond to help others. Whether it’s another team member, policy holder or a community organization that is in need, Jackson associates are always putting others first.