What helping the Rescue Mission means to us

This season, our eyes have been opened to the work of the Roanoke Rescue Mission.

Each day, this nonprofit feeds and shelters hundreds of area families experiencing financial and personal hardships. For far too many in our community, the Rescue Mission is a safe-haven against abuse, addiction, homelessness and hopelessness.

Inspired by the Mission's intense dedication to the Roanoke Valley, our Magnets USA family wanted to lend a hand. We started last month by collecting donations for the Mission's Back 2 School Blast, an annual event that helps more than 1,500 children of low-income families prepare for the upcoming academic year.

Craving an even more hands-on experience, several of our team members and their children gathered at the Mission early Saturday morning. In just two hours, we had peeled 200 pounds of potatoes and filled 250 brown bags with sandwiches, chips, cookies and condiments — and had a blast doing it. For us, helping at the Rescue Mission was a great opportunity to strengthen relationships that make our time at work even more meaningful.

As a company rooted in the Roanoke Valley since its founding, we were thrilled to be a small part of such an expansive outreach.