“The Fun Food Fridays program would not exist without AE employees packing over 650 bags of food during the school year. The program has been a tremendous success and has helped eliminate the stigma of food assistance at two local schools.”

I’m thankful for those kind words come from a board member at the Project Topeka Community Food Drive. Partnered with them, our team has committed to regularly pack bags of nonperishable food for their “Fun Food Fridays” program. In two local elementary schools, what this does is send kids home with care packages on Fridays to make sure they have food security over the weekend.

If you want to launch a community engagement program inside your office with a “roll up your sleeves” feel, where you do physical tasks that a local charity needs help with – this one’s for you!

At Advisors Excel, our teams do this with community food pantries, along with cooking and serving lunches once a week at Let’s Help Inc., which is a Topeka-based not-for-profit committed to helping people achieve self-sufficiency and break the cycle of poverty. Let’s Help also runs a food pantry, clothing bank, and education and employment programs for adults and older Kansans.

So, how do you do this? What steps should you take?