Year-round giving defines company culture

Dec. 21, 2018

This paid piece is sponsored by MetaBank.

 The season of giving shines bright all year at MetaBank, where contributing time and resources to community needs is encouraged and begins with executive-level support.

Here’s a closer look at the powerful ways Meta’s team is making a difference beyond the walls of its banks and buildings.

MetaMissions

At the core of Meta’s culture of caring is MetaMissions, an employee team that raises funds internally and with a company match throughout the year. The group provides additional help to employees going through a difficult time and gives back in the community through volunteerism and other donations.

“For Christmas, we look for agencies to support,” said Tiffany Fluit, a senior test analyst and a member of the group.

“And as we were reading and researching, we saw that residents in nursing homes are sometimes forgotten. So we thought we’d pick an agency that might not be given as much.”

Meta teamed up with The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society to provide gifts for senior residents in two of its Sioux Falls communities.

“Each of the names gave us ideas – simple things like candy or a blanket – and initially I had 80 names on the list, and they were all spoken for right away,” Fluit said.

“So we added more and exceeded 100 residents.”

For each resident “adopted” by an employee, Meta added $25 to a fund that was donated to the Family Visitation Center and LifeScape.

Meta team members delivered the Good Samaritan gifts Dec. 18.

“We were all encouraged to bring our gifts and bring our children because the residents love seeing them,” Fluit said. “It was a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season.”

Women helping women

Meta’s Women’s Network brings more than 100 women together from across the company to share ideas, hold events and give back.

Over the years, the network has donated to many local nonprofits, including Feeding South Dakota earlier this year, which benefited from a companywide drive that brought in more than 267 pounds of items.

Each year, the group has a theme, and for 2018 it was empowerment – symbolized by the phrase “Actually, I can.”

“We believe that if we can empower ourselves, we can empower others,” said Sheila Volek, a senior accountant and member of the group’s leadership team.

Each year, the Women’s Network holds four larger events for the company, including Paint Meta Pink, which started four years ago to promote breast cancer awareness and raise funds.

The largest and most anticipated element of Paint Meta Pink is a chili cook-off, judged by the CEO, past winners and a steering committee representative. The 28 entries, along with a bake sale and ribbon sales, raised more than $2,100.

The funds were donated to the Feisty Fighters, a group founded in 2005 by Sioux Falls business leader Pat Lloyd that has grown to be a top fundraiser for Susan G. Komen and now offers grants to help those battling all cancers.

“We chose to support the Feisty Fighters because of their overall mission and local reach,” Volek said. “They support cancer warriors through South Dakota and within 100 miles of Sioux Falls through their grant program. Even within our network, we are touched by cancer, so it was important to us to find an organization like them. We know every dollar donated will be well spent.”

What’s next

Meta’s giving doesn’t end with the holidays. A new effort will get started early next year.

MetaVet, an employee resource group formed two years ago, is working on a project to offer help to homeless veterans.

In addition to informing and educating internally to recruit and retain veterans at Meta, MetaVet sponsors events to support the community with help from Meta and fellow employees.

“We’re working with the Veterans Administration to assess the needs in our community,” said Keith Voss, a software engineer at Meta and member of MetaVet.

“We’re anticipating this could be a yearlong effort, so we look forward to learning more about how we can support our fellow veterans and involve all of Meta in yet another worthy community effort.”

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Year-round giving defines company culture

The season of giving shines bright all year at MetaBank, where contributing time and resources to community needs is encouraged and begins with executive-level support. Here’s a closer look at the powerful ways Meta’s team is making a difference beyond the walls of its banks and buildings.

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