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Chetola Employees “Pay It Forward” This Holiday Season with Donation to Casting Bread Ministries

In accordance with their annual Christmas party, Chetola Resort staff members decided to give back to the community by donating 700 pounds of food to local pantry.

Chetola Resort’s staff happily announces their donation to Casting Bread Ministries, a food pantry located on Aho Road in Blowing Rock. The donation weighing in at 700lbs was gratefully received by Casting Bread’s Executive Director, Sam Garrett, on the day after Christmas. This donation was the result of over 200 employees coming together to benefit the community.

“I’m so proud of the Chetola team for taking the time to make a positive impact on our local community” says Chetola’s food drive coordinator, Dalton Kilby. “We’re excited about establishing an ongoing relationship with Casting Bread Ministries and look forward to other opportunities that allow us to serve others”. Casting Bread’s food pantry allows their clients to channel their income towards other needs for their families including transportation to work and school, paying utility bills, or paying for medical needs. This service is increasingly beneficial to locals around the holidays.

“Casting Bread provides over 9,000 pounds of food to over a thousand people each month. This would not be possible without the support of organizations like Chetola” says Casting Bread’s Executive Director, Sam Garrett. “Casting Bread wishes the entire staff and their families the very best this holiday season”, he continues.

Along with the donation to Casting Bread Ministries, Chetola employees were offered an additional chance make a difference by proprietor, Kent Tarbutton. Each employee was offered a ten-dollar bill upon exit of this year’s Christmas celebration under one condition: pay it forward. “Ten dollars can make a meaningful difference in all sorts of scenarios. I challenge the Chetola staff to make that difference and offer the story behind how they impacted someone” said Tarbutton upon distribution of the bills.

Since the pay it forward opportunity was initiated, many stories have been collected. Some employee’s stories include paying for someone else’s meal in a drive through line or adding a little something extra to a Salvation Army collection bucket. Chetola employee, Debra Foxx, says “I plan on paying it forward by purchasing blankets to donate to animals at Watauga Humane Society.” Chetola and its staff hope to continue the “pay it forward” tradition for many more Christmases to come.