Maj. Johannsen addresses Edward Jones Executives

Account executives from Edward Jones financial firm took time away from their summer regional meetings, held this year in Sioux City, Iowa, to build care packages for deployed soldiers and airmen on June 23, 2017.  Fifty Account Executives from the Northwest corner of Iowa, gathered at Stoney Creek Inn to assemble, with the help of some their family members, 200 care packages.  

 The care packages are filled with candy bars, baked goods and toiletries, all of which were donated by Edward Jones employees throughout the year.  

 “We consider ourselves a fairly fortunate group of people, we have good jobs and make a good living and this is our way of giving back,” said Mark Frakes, an Account Executive from Forest City, Iowa. 

 Frakes said that while the corporate offices usually pick up the cost of shipping, some of the account executives have also paid for shipping when a customer requests that one of the packages be sent to a specific person serving in a deployed location. 

Maj. Zachary Johannsen, Executive Officer at the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing, Sioux City, Iowa talked to the group telling them what it is like to be deployed for extended periods and how great it is to receive a care package.  In the course of his career, Johannsen has been deployed to locations around the world and knows how much a simple care package can lift morale.

 It is always nice to get something that reminds you of home.  It is also nice to be able to share items with co-workers," said Johannsen. 

 This is the sixth year that making care packages has been part of their regional meetings with over 1000 packages made.

 This article is not intended as an endorsement.