Serving Our Neighbors at the Hickory Soup Kitchen

Last week, eight Members Credit Union employees from our western area branches traded their usual workday routines for serving trays, clearing tables, and a little cleanup as they spent part of the day volunteering at the Hickory Soup Kitchen.

It was a day centered around something simple but important: showing up for our community.

The Hickory Soup Kitchen is the only soup kitchen in Hickory and serves an average of 150 people and approximately 225 plates of food each day. But its impact goes well beyond providing a hot meal. The organization also offers safe shower facilities, take-home groceries, hygiene items, and other resources to individuals and families who need a helping hand.

Our MCU volunteers had the opportunity to jump right into the Soup Kitchen's daily lunch service. They helped serve meals, greeted guests with smiling faces, cleared dishes, and pitched in with sweeping, mopping, and cleaning once lunch was over.

While none of those tasks may seem extraordinary on their own, together they help make it possible for the Hickory Soup Kitchen to continue welcoming and serving its neighbors day after day.

At Members Credit Union, community involvement is about more than writing a check or sponsoring an event. We believe there is also value in being present. Volunteer opportunities like this allow our employees to step outside the walls of our branches, work alongside local organizations, and connect with the communities we serve in a different way.

We are grateful to the Hickory Soup Kitchen for welcoming our team and giving us the opportunity to play a small part in the incredible work they do. And, of course, a big thank you goes to our eight MCU employees who volunteered and represented the credit union with kindness, compassion, and plenty of smiles.

Want to see our team in action? Check out the recap from our volunteer day on the Members Credit Union Facebook page and TikTok account.

To learn more about the Hickory Soup Kitchen, the services they provide, or opportunities to volunteer and support their work, visit the Hickory Soup Kitchen website.

Whether we're serving members inside our branches or serving a meal alongside our community partners, it's all part of what it means to be people helping people.