Kingsford, Mich. (WZMQ) – The President of First National Bank in Iron Mountain was at Evergreen Assisted Living Community yesterday handing out care packages for Spread Goodness Day. The residents, and some care staff received packages with blankets, assorted snacks, games, playing cards, and other goodies. One resident was excited to receive the playing cards, asking if anyone wanted to play bridge.
Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, Jean O’Dette, said that the bank has been participating in Spread Goodness Day since it began in 2018. She said that people in the community wanted to bring Spread Goodness Day to Dickinson County since the very first year, and goodness day has grown in Dickinson County since then.
In the beginning, the bank started out by selecting coffee shops in the Iron Mountain and Kingsford area and randomly awarding free coffees to shoppers on Goodness Day. Within the last 2 years, the bank has partnered up with the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce, and many other businesses have followed suit.
As part of the partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, the participating businesses, including Iron Mountain Automotive, Eureka Tire, Crispigna’s Italian Market, Dulce Nulla Gourmet Desserts, The Drug Store, and Advanta Print gave away vouchers to random shoppers for “Chamber Bucks”.
O’Dette added that this year, they wanted to take goodness a step further.
“So, we made up care packages for the community rooms. There’s a bunch of snacks in there, some games for them to play, different activities. And so, we’ll be delivering those to fifteen different area nursing homes,” she remarked.
At Evergreen, the maintenance supervisor, Ben Anderson, said he was happy to see the smiles that Spread Goodness Day brought to the community.
“A lot of times throughout the cold winter they don’t get outside too much, and you know it can be a long winter inside, so it’s really great that they’re doing this to spread some joy throughout the building,” stated Anderson.
The Evergreen employee said that the U.P. spreads goodness like no other place.
“So especially in a small, tight-knit community, it really shows you the businesses that care and put back into their local communities. Which is great for the local businesses, it’s great for the people that live here. It’s one of the great joys of living in Iron Mountain, Kingsford,” he added.
Evergreen wasn’t the only nursing home on the First National Bank’s delivery list. Next stops were Freeman Nursing Home, ManorCare, and Victorian Estates among the 15 stops for delivery. The care packages were sent off to spread some goodness to care facilities in Dickinson, Iron, and Menominee County, as well as parts of Northern Wisconsin.
