Charlene Lightfoot, Texas Land Bank vice president, knows the sacrifices military families make during wartime. Her son-in-law, Steve Nunnelly, is currently serving on the USS Nimitz. With a crew of 3,000 men and women, the USS Nimitz is the lead ship of America’s largest class of aircraft carrier; when deployed, the air wing brings an additional 2,000 personnel on board.
This fall, Charlene received a letter from Steve about how the sailors were working long shifts and enduring extreme heat and humidity and, with the holidays rapidly approaching, many were becoming homesick. That letter was all it took for the Texas Land Bank to spring into action.
Each Texas Land Bank credit office has adopted a sailor from the ship and the staff has been working as a team to show our gratitude to these sailors for their service. Our employees have had so much joy searching for items to send to their sailors — both men and women — items such as mini Christmas trees, snacks, hand-held games, hand-written cards from grandchildren of employees, and personal thank you letters from employees. Our packages have also included copies of Landscapes magazine, along with notes about how the Texas Land Bank is thankful that the sailors on the USS Nimitz are sacrificing so that those people featured in our magazine can enjoy the freedom of living on this land of ours.
This effort to express our appreciation to the sailors has created a bond among our employees. We are humbled when we realize the role that the sailors serve in our business. The customers served by the Texas Land Bank love their rural land. The Land Bank team is proud to provide financing, so that our borrowers can acquire and enjoy their rural property. And the sailors on the USS Nimitz have dedicated their lives to protecting it.
The Texas Land Bank plans to continue supporting the USS Nimitz sailors while they are at sea, and we will do so until they are able to come back home with their feet firmly planted back on United States soil.
