Employees and nonprofit foundation raise enough to give toys to approximately 7,200 children

Movement Mortgage employees this year raised more than $108,000 in donations for Toys for Tots, the annual drive organized by the U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve that supplies new toys to underprivileged children across the country just in time for Christmas.

In the span of a month, team members across four Movement operations centers and numerous retail offices nationwide donated thousands of dollars to provide unwrapped toys and games to about 7,200 children who otherwise wouldn't get any.

Each dollar donated was matched by the nonprofit Movement Foundation to reach the grand total.

This was the eighth year Movement's participated in the national toy drive. The company first got involved when employee Michelle Geurtsen, an underwriting manager at Movement's Norfolk operations center, placed a jar on her desk to collect donations. With a match from company co-founder Toby Harris, she donated three bikes that year.

Since then, that effort has magnified and is now one of Movement's biggest annual fundraisers. From inception, the annual event has resulted in nearly half-a-million dollars in donations to Toys for Tots from Movement Mortgage.

"The drive is something that really touches my heart; just thinking about the generosity of our company brings tears to my eyes," Geurtsen says. "I am so blessed to work for a company that allows me to raise money for Toys for Tots every year."

Team members who donated in 2017 were selected at random to participate in a shopping trip for toys in the four cities where Movement has operations centers: Norfolk, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Tempe, Arizona and Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Employees at the company's Fort Mill headquarters and operations center in Tempe raised more money than any other single organization or company in their respective areas, organizers said.

"We solely rely on donations and volunteer help. Everything that small businesses and larger businesses do helps," said Staff Sgt. Erasmo Galaviz, Toys for Tots' coordinator in Charlotte. "That commitment from local businesses, especially from Movement, that's a big, big help for anyone going through a tough time."

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