(UNDATED) – Employees from the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility (WVCF) and their food service provider Aramark, experienced the joy of giving this Christmas Season as they delivered five $1,000 checks to non-profit organizations in Sullivan, Greene, and Vigo counties.
The checks were presented throughout the day on Monday, December 16th. Recipients included the Sullivan Brown Baggers, the Terre Haute Catholic Charities, the 14th & Chestnut Community Center, Sullivan Christmas for Kids, and the Linton Food Pantry.
The representative for each organization was very appreciative. The Development Director for the Catholic Charities Jennifer Buell stated the following. “Terre Haute Catholic Charities food bank provides the equivalent of 2.8 million meals each year to more than 32,000 individuals living in West Central Indiana. This donation from WVCF will allow us to provide as many as 4,000 additional meals to families and seniors living in our communities.”
All the representatives expressed a passion for their charity. Sullivan Christmas for Kids Director Roberta Russell stated the following. “I was a single mom with two kids working two to three jobs, so Christmas was rough. I just wanted to make it easier for others.”
The staff that participated were thrilled to be a part of something so special this holiday season. Warden Brown stated, “WVCF is blessed to have the funding available from the Community Involvement Fund to help our local communities. No person should go without food and no child should go without a gift to open during Christmas so we are making every effort to ensure food and gifts are provided.” Aramark IN2WORK Region Program Manager Melissa Hess stated, “What a great experience it was to be a partner with the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Community Fund. We were able to see the difference that the donations will make to the five organizations that received the $1,000. The IN2WORK program is proud to be involved, thru our Food Service Training Program. The students use the knowledge gained in our class to make food items for the facility. Through these sales, a portion of the proceeds goes into the Community Fund. We are pleased to be involved in giving back to the community”.
Background
The funds for the donations are raised through a food service training program that Aramark provides for incarcerated individuals. IN2WORK is a program that teaches offenders food service skills which in turn help them become ServSafe certified. The participants are then allowed to use their newly-acquired skill set to prepare food items to sell to the offender population. A portion of the funds from the sales are placed in a Community Fund.
The benefits are two fold. Not only do the communities benefit from the funds that are donated, but they also benefit from the re-entry skills the offenders acquire prior to release. WVCF knows that re-entry is tough and the more job opportunities open to offenders the better the chance they have of becoming a productive part of society after release.
