Distribution center employees rally around co-workers in need

June 19--CHAMBERSBURG -- Employees of a Chambersburg distribution center are taking it upon themselves to help fellow co-workers in need.

Workers at the Kmart distribution center on Nitterhouse Drive have been teaming up to volunteer time, donate food or make a financial contribution whenever one of the 200 employees encounters a challenging time.

Helping Our People Everyday, or HOPE, as they call it, can provide anything from cooking meals, helping someone move, doing yard work and running errands to donating clothing, food or raising money for a sudden financial burden.

Situations run the gambit from hardship to joy --the death of a loved one, surgery, the birth of a baby, or other major life event.

Brian and Shari Baer helped organize the program last year after a co-worker unexpectedly lost her spouse.

"We have health, vision and dental insurance, but nothing in place for other life challenges," Brian Baer said. "HOPE is here for people to have this peace of mind."

They have been overwhelmed by the response far.

Involvement in the various projects keeps growing. Recently, a food drive was announced on a Thursday morning, and by Friday morning the large table had to be cleared.

"We feel we're a big family and we want to give people comfort if they are going through a tragedy that they are not alone." Shari Baer said. "That's a big relief."

All requests are kept anonymous.

The person needing the help is the only one who can make the request, and organizers only ask that the individual then help with future HOPE activities.

The program is entirely employee-driven but it is done with the blessing of the distribution center senior leadership and human resources department.

"We want to create something more than a job," human resources Manger Krista Streletz said. "We don't sell jobs. We try to create a family away from family."

Marcus Rauhut can be reached at 262-4752.

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