We all know this year has been a challenge. We're reminded with almost everything we do, say and hear. That's why in our Village, we knew we had to take back our year and #ownit. We decided that no matter what else this year throws at us, we were going to do whatever we could to #end2020well.

Wrapping up the end of the year gives us a chance to look back on some of these experiences. What an incredible honor it was for each Villager to have an opportunity to make a financial impact to help others in our community. Over the last several weeks, you've seen our stories of donations to numerous community partners who work tirelessly every day to meet so many important needs throughout our community. We saw food, warm clothes and backpacks delivered, support for cancer patients and research, scholarships for local students, support for animals and more! It's feels incredible to be able to make such a big splash with these donations totaling $8,250, but what’s even more exciting is following the little ripples made by these organizations to benefit families and individuals in our community.

Here's what we did to #end2020well:
	We worked with the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office and purchased $400 worth of their pink Breast Cancer Awareness lapel pins. In return, two officers came to our branch and presented a pin to one of our own Villagers who has recently beat breast cancer. All proceeds from the pins will be donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.
	We connected with local food shelf, NACE – Northern Anoka County Emergency Food Shelf & Closet, to find out how we could help. Our Villagers then went out and purchased several bottles of laundry detergent and 12 backpacks, filling them full with snacks, hats, and mittens totaling $600 worth of supplies.
	Alexandra House provides domestic, sexual and relationship violence services to women, men, youth and families. We met with the Executive Director, and the Marketing Director(Tina Bronson) of Alexandra House, who gave us some background on the facility and provided information on the wide range of things they are able to offer to the women and children that go to the Alexandra House. Our $1,500.00 donation will help with keeping the facility running and continue to help those in need of their many services.
	Our Villagers recently did a Zoom tour of Ruff Start Rescue. Ruff Start Rescue is a no kill shelter based out of Princeton, saving the lives of at-risk animals and helping them find new and loving homes with their foster based program. Our Villagers donated $500 to help support vetting costs for the animals in need.
	Village Bank is proud to present the Dylan Witschen Foundation with a gift! With our donation of $500, Village Bank will be helping this foundation donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital where Dylan was a patient from 08/2008 to 06/2010. Our donation will also go towards scholarships at Anoka and Blaine High School football players.
	Village Bank is proud to present The Missing GRACE Foundation with a gift of $500! The Missing GRACE Foundation is a non-profit Public Charity based in Minnesota with a mission to serve grieving, infertile and adoptive families nationwide. Our donation will assist Missing Grace in providing support, resources, education for families and professional care providers when there is loss of a baby, infertility, or adoption challenges.
	Village Bank supported Minneapolis Business Mentors by making a $500 monetary contribution to support their mission of providing FREE and confidential business mentoring to both entrepreneurs and established businesses. Loren Herbst, Founding Member at MBM, visited with Commercial Bankers, Dana Kinde and Dan Hass, and shared success stories of how they’ve helped to support local business owners!
	Our Villagers supported a long-standing community partner by presenting a $500 donation. Achieve Services, Inc., founded in 1964, is a local non-profit that currently serves about 195 adults with a variety of abilities to support their vocational goals. With this donation, Achieve will be able to ensure that they can meet the growing gap between government funding and the actual cost of providing enriching opportunities.
	Our Villagers made a difference in our community to help two local students #end2020well! Through a monetary donation valued at over $750, two PSEO students at Anoka Technical College were each able to choose tools that they needed for their personal toolbox. These tools will further equip them with some tools necessary to enhance their skills, and properly prepare them for their manufacturing future.
	Our Villagers recently donated $500 to the Angel Foundation. The Angel Foundation is a Twin Cities based non-profit whose mission is to support local adults and families who have been impacted by cancer. They provide financial assistance, education, and general support so that these families may live life well with stability, strength and resilience.
	Our Villagers recently partnered with I'm Not Done Yet - INDY Foundation, a local organization which strives to recognize and support cancer warriors and their families. With our own cancer warrior Villager winning her battle, our Villagers wanted to honor her and support others who are not done yet. A $500 donation was made to their 30 days of Comfort and Joy campaign online and additionally purchased $500 in INDY merchandise to be donated to the Minneapolis Children's Hospital cancer ward.
	Cambia Hills is a state of the art psychiatric treatment facility that serves children ages 6-17 years old with complex mental health conditions. Our villagers have donated $500 towards the children's wish list and playground project and donated a volleyball set for raffle. Another $500 was provided in partnership with local restaurants to provide 80 Cambia Hills staff with gift cards for meals in appreciation for the work that they do.
Check out these other organizations that we support on an annual basis!

We were able to support many of our local #communitypartners by purchasing items through them to donate. That’s critical support as many of them have had a reduction in business volume with the state shutdown. We hope we’ve helped to keep their doors open for the long haul and provided a dose of hope. We see you small businesses!

This mission has provided support for families in our community through many of these non-profit organizations. Families dealing with loss, cancer, violence, hunger and many other difficult situations. We hope that with these small tokens, we can bring a sense of warmth and peace to them.

These funds have also provided scholarships and helped local students purchase the tools needed for their career. We hope that in these difficult times, this help has been relief for their families who now have one less thing to think about as they try to keep so many other balls juggling in the air.

Though this time of year is for giving, it is evident that there is much good work going on in our community through these businesses and organizations year-round. Our mission to #end2020well was to take back control, support those around us and inspire others to do the same. We’ve also shared how giving is so good for us and it doesn’t have to be monetary. It can be very simple. Give someone a smile, pay them a compliment, do a random act of kindness for a stranger. Each little ripple helps make our community better and better, and we all have ownership to #end2020well.

We’d love to hear how you were able to #end2020well!

Connect with us on social media and let us how you were able to support a local business, help someone in need, or if you tried something new, anything you may have done to take back your year.