2025 Great Holiday Giveback
We’re celebrating the season of giving in a big way
Winter holidays are when our community comes together and celebrates the commitment we have to each other. For the fifth year in a row, we’ve let you – members and IC team members – choose which charities most deserve our help. We’ve raffled off the chance to nominate your favorite non-profits to receive more than $25,000 in donations from IC. To see who our winners nominated and why, check out the interviews attached to each charity logo below.
Which charities did our 10 winning IC members select?
Animal charities, soup kitchens, and community programs are among the organizations nominated by both members and team members. Each winning nonprofit addresses various critical needs within their communities, highlighting the importance of supporting one another on a fundamental level.
To learn more about these organizations and the reasons behind their selection, hover over the tiles below to read interviews with the members who nominated them.
Mary Cringan
Why are you passionate about them?
The Friends of Coggshall is a 501(c) (3) organization with members who are passionate in keeping Coggshall Park, Fitchburg’s Crown Jewel a safe and well cared for park. Nestled in the woods off of Electric Ave, this park has something for every age group. On any given day, year-round, you will find every age group enjoying the park by either hiking the trails, attending summer concerts, playing on the playground equipment, walking around Mirror Lake, sitting on the benches and reflecting on the beauty of nature, playing Disc Golf or having gatherings inside the historic Stone House or gazebo. The Board of Directors would like to install an Emergency Call box inside the park for the safety of our visitors. Many elderly visitors don’t always have a cell phone with them and in the case of a fall or injury this call box would be used to summons help. We would be most appreciative to be a recipient of this donation to help us meet this goal.
Share with your friends
John Howes
Why are you passionate about them?
They give food to people in need with no questions asked. I love their message of if you need it and we have it, it’s yours.
Share with your friends
Leonard DiNoia
Why are you passionate about them?
They seek out personal care and hygiene products that can be distributed to those in need in Worcester County. They also accept food items.
Helping Veterans is a priority.
Share with your friends
Pamela Sullivan
Why are you passionate about them?
They are the largest food pantry in North central MA and serve thousands of hungry.
Share with your friends
Nicole Kinsella
Why are you passionate about them?
I’ve been working with Up With Books for the last 12 months. This is ran by Young women who just care enough about the community to collect book donations (which by the way, Paige – one of the founders – reads every single book to ensure it’s ok to give to students) attends different shelters and food banks to have a stand for books, and hand makes over 5,000 backpacks for schools across Central Mass and their summer reading programs. I’ve spent time in there, surely location, assisting and packing those backpacks and see the organization that’s required to run something this well. I truly am taking a back every time I walk in knowing that they don’t ask for anything, everything they do is from their own hands.
The summer reading program is one of the most thoughtful donation processes I’ve seen. They take brand new books that are associated with the reading programs for each grade, get a headcount of student students that are in need of books for each school they work with, And proceed to pack the backpacks by hand and deliver them themselves to each school across the Central Massachusetts.
Share with your friends
Mary Deblois
Why are you passionate about them?
Ahimsa Haven Animal Rescue is a no-kill cat rescue. 100% of the money raised goes directly to the animals lots of love for animals very caring people who love what they do.
Share with your friends
Which charities did our 10 winning IC team members nominate?
Similar to the organizations selected by our members, the winning nominations from IC team members highlighted local, neighborhood-focused charities. These included animal rescue organizations, veterans outreach centers, food pantries, land conservation groups, and many others committed to strengthening the communities where we live and work.
To discover more about these organizations and the reasons they were chosen, hover over the tiles below to read interviews with the team members who nominated them.
Christopher Hendry
Tell us about the organization you’re nominating. What do they do? Why are you passionate about them?
Incredible addiction treatment organization focussed on helthy bodies = health minds = breaking the cycle.
Share with your friends
Rachel Roy
Tell us about the organization you’re nominating. What do they do? Why are you passionate about them?
They provide for foster children in the community backpack and school supplies, Christmas gift drive, prom needs and financial assistance for other things.
Share with your friends
Timothy Olson
Tell us about the organization you’re nominating. What do they do? Why are you passionate about them?
Sterling Animal Shelter is a no-kill shelter providing pet adoption and foster/medical care to sick/rescued animals.
Share with your friends
David Breton
Tell us about the organization you’re nominating. What do they do? Why are you passionate about them?
They support and empower adults with developmental disabilities by providing opportunities to enrich and improve their lives.
Share with your friends
Chyanne Kay
Tell us about the organization you’re nominating. What do they do? Why are you passionate about them?
Sterling shelter is a no kill animal shelter. The take in stray, unwanted, abused or neglected animals and provide them shelter without a time limit.
Share with your friends
Kara Swanson
Tell us about the organization you’re nominating. What do they do? Why are you passionate about them?
They provide fuel assistance for the community.
Share with your friends
$5,400 donated to charities chosen by other IC team members
Remaining IC team members who didn’t win were awarded $100 each to donate to charities of their choosing. Here are a few of the organizations that received their support.
Our commitment
At IC Credit Union, we firmly believe that the strength of any credit union—or business—lies in the vitality of the communities it serves. Since our founding in 1928 as a member-owned nonprofit institution, our mission has been to provide services that positively impact both our members and their neighborhoods.
Throughout the year, we actively support a wide range of charitable organizations and nonprofits across Massachusetts through outreach, volunteering, and corporate giving initiatives.
The Great Holiday Giveback is our opportunity to spotlight some of these organizations that hold a special place in the hearts of our members and employees and to share their inspiring stories with you.
Click below to learn more about IC’s charitable and corporate giving programs, designed to make a meaningful difference in Massachusetts communities.
