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Metro Credit Union Completes Annual Thanksgiving Basket Food Drive

Published on November 22, 2021 •4 min read

CHELSEA, MA, November 22, 2021 – Metro Credit Union, Massachusetts’ largest state-charted credit union, recently completed the organization’s annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive to collect food donations for those in need. The goal of the drive is to deliver baskets filled with all the fixings needed for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Metro employees worked together to assemble and decorate festive baskets prior to being delivered to a local food pantry ahead of Thanksgiving. All items within the baskets are non-perishable. A $50 gift card for the purchase of a turkey is also included.

This year, the benefitting organization was St. Martha’s Food Pantry in Lawrence, Mass. Their food pantry supplies emergency groceries for up to 1,300 families each week. Since the pandemic, they have safely offered pre-bagged groceries handed out under plexiglass barriers, with the aim of providing enough healthful, delicious food for a family to create at least four complete meals. Metro presented St. Martha’s Food Pantry with 23 decorated baskets and a $2,000 check in addition to the donated items, as Metro matched all monetary contributions made by employees.

“We wouldn’t be able to serve the community the way we do without the support of partners such as Metro Credit Union. This is truly how we provide for our people,” said Liset Garcia, Food Services Coordinator at Lazarus House Ministries, the parent organization of St. Martha’s Food Pantry.

Metro Credit Union will also donate $1,000 to Merrimack Valley Black and Brown Voices in Lawrence thanks to the generous donations of Metro employees. MVBBV provides Black, Indigenous, and People of Color across the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts with a safe space to connect, share resources, and create systemic change to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in surrounding communities.

“It’s wonderful to see our employees come together to serve the community through our annual Thanksgiving basket tradition,” said Charlene Bauer, SVP of Outreach, Advocacy and Chief Development Officer of Metro Credit Union. “The pandemic has shown us how significant it is to be able to gather with loved ones, and every family should have the opportunity and resources they need for a memorable meal.”

For more information about Metro Credit Union, please visit metrocu.org, or connect with us on LinkedIn.


From L-R: Metro Credit Union employees Jim Herndon, SVP Human Resources; Robert Cashman, Chief Executive Officer; Marie O’Neill, SVP Engagement, Experience and Marketing; and Erik Porter, SVP Chief Financial Officer with the organization’s Thanksgiving baskets
From L-R: Metro Credit Union employees Jim Herndon, SVP Human Resources; Robert Cashman, Chief Executive Officer; Marie O’Neill, SVP Engagement, Experience and Marketing; and Erik Porter, SVP Chief Financial Officer with the organization’s Thanksgiving baskets
From L-R: Jen Flanagan, Public Relations Specialist and George Nunez, Lawrence Branch Manager of Metro Credit Union, Liset Garcia, Food Services Coordinator of St. Martha’s Food Pantry and Lazarus House Ministries; and Charlene Bauer, SVP of Outreach, Advocacy and Chief Development Officer of Metro Credit Union
From L-R: Jen Flanagan, Public Relations Specialist and George Nunez, Lawrence Branch Manager of Metro Credit Union, Liset Garcia, Food Services Coordinator of St. Martha’s Food Pantry and Lazarus House Ministries; and Charlene Bauer, SVP of Outreach, Advocacy and Chief Development Officer of Metro Credit Union

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About Metro Credit Union
Metro Credit Union is the largest state-chartered credit union in Massachusetts, with $2.4 billion in assets. Metro provides a full range of financial products to close to 200,000 members in Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Plymouth, Barnstable, Bristol and Worcester counties in Massachusetts, and Rockingham and Hillsborough counties in New Hampshire, as well as to employees of over 1,200 companies through its Metro@work program.

Founded in 1926, Metro currently operates 14 branch offices in Boston, Burlington, Chelsea, Framingham, Lawrence, Lynn, Melrose, Newton, Peabody, Salem, Tewksbury, and coming soon to West Roxbury and Reading. Metro is also a Juntos Avanzamos (“Together We Advance”) designated credit union, an honor given to financial institutions for their commitment to serving and empowering Hispanic and immigrant consumers. Metro was recently named among the most charitable companies in Massachusetts by the Boston Business Journal. Learn more at MetroCU.org and connect with us on LinkedIn.

About Lazarus House Ministries and St. Martha’s Food Pantry
During a trip to India in 1981 to care for the poor, Tom Petite met Mother Teresa, who instructed him to “go back and serve the poor in your own community” after learning he was the only attendee on the trip from North America. Once Petite returned to his hometown of Lawrence, Mass. following the mission, he began making plans to take care of those in need within the Merrimack Valley. Two years later, he and a group of faithful volunteers opened the Lazarus House Emergency Shelter, the first of many initiatives currently offered by Lazarus House Ministries. After the opening of The Good Shepherd Thrift Store in 1984 and The Good Shepherd Soup Kitchen in 1986, St. Martha’s Food Pantry began distributing groceries to the community from the shelter driveway in 1987. The aim of Lazarus House Ministries is to provide what is needed most by families and individuals facing material poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity in the areas of shelter, clothing, food, advocacy, and community resources. These cores ministries work simultaneously to provide emergency care, holistic programming, hope for a good future, and life skills to gain independence and sustain self-sufficiency.