Henderson Employees Feed the Holiday Spirit
This holiday season, West Fraser’s Henderson, Texas sawmill team hosted its annual food drive to benefit the Henderson Food Pantry and support fellow community members facing food insecurity.
Henderson’s Mill Janitor, Sonja White led the effort which began in late September and wrapped up just before Thanksgiving. Sonja made employees aware of the opportunity to help and reminded them that all contributions can make a positive difference. Together, the 140 mill employees collected 904 food items ranging from canned goods to shelf-stable boxed food.
“It brought joy to my heart knowing that we could help as I know so many people now that could really use the help. Our team rose to the challenge, with some employees giving multiple times and others coming in on their day off to add to the collection. Every bit, even a can, helps."
Sonja White, Mill Janitor, Henderson
With such a response, Sonja set up a special tracking system to help record the number of items being brought in. West Fraser always pledges to match the amount of food given by employees and, this year, picked up the tab for the purchase of an additional 904 food items.
Company Matches Employee Giving
Vickie Gonzalez, Henderson’s HR Coordinator, organized this major online food purchase. “When choosing the company match, I first start thinking about things that go with a holiday meal that will give it a festive feel, and then I start selecting items that a household would need, such as nutritious breakfast cereals, flour, sugar and tinned proteins, just to help make the dollars go farther in meeting the recipients’ needs,” said Vickie.
Henderson’s General Manager, Raymond Mitchell, had suggested a goal of 1,500 items. In total, more than 1,800 food items were donated by Henderson.
“I am so proud of our team, what they’ve achieved in a few weeks and the difference it will make to our community.”
Raymond Mitchell, General Manager, Henderson
And now it will be a brighter holiday season for many of the 400-500 residents served by the Henderson Food Pantry each month.
“We were so excited to see these trucks come in this morning,” said Henderson Food Pantry Director April Stevens. “This is such a difficult time of year to have food insecurity. This incredible donation will help so many families have a happy holiday, with a nice meal on the table.”
