In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reminded of how fortunate I am. I’m fortunate in many ways, but two things I’m especially thankful for this month are my generous co-workers and my generous neighbors near-and-far in Minnesota.

The first week of November marked the annual Sunrise employee giving week.  Each year, employees at Sunrise organize a week filled with activities that help build awareness and raise funds for local nonprofit organizations. Given the bank has six branches and two additional operations offices, the week cannot be successful without the help of employee volunteer champions at each site. They tirelessly contribute their time towards planning and hosting these activities. This year is no exception and the numbers are pretty amazing – we almost doubled contributions from last year!

Final pledges are still coming in, but employees pledged nearly $20,000 dollars for local nonprofits and also contributed over 29 hours of volunteer service.

And, to celebrate our week, we hosted a pancake breakfast on Give to the Max Day….which brings me to my neighbors near-and-far in Minnesota.  This year, Minnesotans gave over $18 million to nonprofit organizations in just one day.  Pretty amazing!