CIT Employees Donate Nearly 15 Tons of Food to City Rescue Mission

June 23, 2010 - PRLog -- JACKSONVILLE, FLA. —  City Rescue Mission (CRM), a non-profit organization that provides food and shelter to the homeless and needy in Northeast Florida, today announced that employees of CIT Group Inc. , a leading provider of financing to small businesses and middle market companies, collected nearly 15 tons (30,000 pounds) of food during their annual food drive, which took place from June 14 to June 17. This amount set a new record, surpassing the group’s 2009 total by approximately 3,000 pounds, and will provide more than 20,000 meals to Jacksonville-area homeless.

“Once again, we are honored to receive such an incredible donation from CIT’s Jacksonville employees,” said Patrick Hayle, executive director, City Rescue Mission. “They continue to go above and beyond each year to support their local community with their kind contributions. We are extremely overjoyed to receive such great support from such an extraordinary group of people.”

Patricia Philbin, Co-Chair, Jacksonville Community Involvement Team, CIT, said, “I am extremely pleased with the overwhelming success of this year’s food drive and the generosity and kindness of CIT’s employees who donated 15 tons of food and shelter needs. I am also very proud of our neighbors, Ceva Logistics and Mark One Financial, who readily accepted the challenge and donated more than 1,300 pounds to the Betty Griffin House and City Rescue Mission.  Together we continue to show that by uniting as one, we can all make a profound difference in the lives of others in the Jacksonville area.”    

In addition to hosting its annual food drive to benefit City Rescue Mission since 2006, CIT employees prepare and serve meals for the homeless with City Rescue Mission during the Company’s Global Employee Volunteer Month that takes place each May. CIT employees also frequently participate in unique projects at City Rescue Mission, most recently repainting the Organization’s cafeteria.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Photos of the food drive can be accessed and downloaded at http://www.crmjax.org/Upload.html

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About City Rescue Mission: City Rescue Mission (CRM) is a non-profit, faith-based organization in downtown Jacksonville that has provided help to the homeless and needy in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida since 1946. In addition to providing emergency services for the homeless, they offer life-changing programs like the New Day Workforce and LifeBuilders, which help people get off the streets and back on their feet. CRM serves around 280,000 meals a year and provided over 100,000 nights of shelter in 2008. For more information, visit http://www.crmjax.org.