EPIC Members Connect to Local Nonprofit

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  The stores are packed, holidays events are nightly and everything seems to have a beautiful glow.  But with all the hustle and bustle, we sometimes forget this time of year to continue to provide for the basic needs of those in our community.  That is why this year EPIC Toledo partnered with Connecting Kids To Meals in order to raise awareness of childhood hunger.  Connecting Kids To Meals provides healthy meals at no cost to kids in low-income and under served areas of our community.  Tens of thousands of children face hunger every day.  There are over 50,000 kids who qualify for free or reduced meals at school. So Connecting Kids To Meals focuses on providing meals when kids are not in school: during the summer months and afterschool hours.  During the summer, they serve about 7,000 meals daily and during the academic year, about 2,500.  They serve meals at 185 partner locations where kids gather and have been feeding hungry kids in need for over 16 years. Last year alone they provided about 500,000 nutritious meals.

Connecting Kids To Meals President Wendi Huntley shares, “We were thrilled to have been selected as the charity to benefit from the EPIC Toledo’s Social with Connecting Kids To Meals on Thursday, Dec. 13th.  It was a great event with an amazing turnout.  EPIC surpassed its goal of raising $1,000 and as such, with their help, Connecting Kids To Meals will be able to get more than 5,000 additional meals to kids who need them most.  On behalf of the Board and Staff of CKM as well as the kids we serve, we are grateful.”

In addition to the contributions made by EPIC Toledo members, National Payment Corporation made a generous donation of $500 at the social.  TeamNPC, a locally owned and operated Merchant Services provider has been part of this community since 1990 enabling businesses to accept electronic payments, like credit/debit cards. They have been leaders in their industry nationally and locally; winning awards for both sales and support; most recently TeamNPC received the Better Business Bureaus prestigious Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. At TeamNPC “Putting the Service back in Merchant Services” is not just a clever tag line, it is the core of what sets them apart and has become the company motto – one that every member of their team reinforces every day.

“Around the holidays it is easy to get wrapped up in the excitement the season brings forgetting that many children, right here in our back yard go without meals,” said Tara Wilson, Senior Account Executive & PR Director: National Payment Corporation (TeamNPC). “Speaking on behalf of the entire TeamNPC, we are grateful for the opportunity tonight’s event gives us – to take a step back, and remember what the ‘true meaning of the holiday season’ is – along with a way to help.”

We wish everyone a safe and holiday season.  Thank you for another incredible year of engaging people and inspiring change.

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