Employees from all of Hormel Foods’ corporate offices in Austin donated a total of $340,000 to the United Way of Mower County at the end of its 2019 drive.

The donation was presented at the Hormel Foods Corporate Office on Dec. 23.

This brings the amount of money the United Way of Mower County has raised for grants to community organizations in the next year to $1.19 million, just $87,000 short of its goal of $1.28 million, Executive Director Molly Lanke said.

With many of its larger campaigns completed, the United Way will be looking for creative ways to raise the rest of the money in the final month of serious fundraising to meet an expected increased amount of funding requests by local organizations, Lanke said.

Seeing $340,000 donated by the corporate office employees, on top of a $121,000 donation from Hormel Foods plant employees, makes Lanke feel very grateful.

“It goes to show how truly life-changing this campaign is for the programs we invest in,” she said.

On a consistent basis over the years, the donation from Hormel Foods Corporate Office employees has made up about 28 percent of the United Way of Mower County’s fundraising campaign, she said.

Lanke said the United Way is not just visiting businesses looking for funding, but also to raise awareness about issues and work being done in the community.

Finance Associate and relatively new member of the Austin community, Tyler Lewis, said the company places an emphasis on employees being part of the community.

“You’re not just going to come here to work. You’re not just going to live in Austin because you work here. They ask you to get involved and give back to the community,” he said.

Execute Adminstrator for Grocery Products Angelita Zynda said the fact that the money stays local helps keep the campaigns vibrant because people know there are good ways it can be used in the community.

“It really motivates employees to say, ‘OK, let’s help our fellow people that are here in the area that need help,’” Zynda said.

More information about the United Way of Mower County can be found at www.uwmower.org.