MVRG Christmas Spectacular

The holidays bring out the good cheer, hope and give-back attitudes. Here at Caliber, the MVRG group was proud to make Christmas extra special for the military community.

Jasmine Johnson Chestnut, a Portfolio Analyst for Caliber Home Loans, was heading the Christmas projects this year. From serving homeless veterans in 10 regions to toy drives, the team was all in.

“As a military friendly company, it is important for us to support and give back to the men and women who sacrifice day after day, year after year. This is our way of showing they are not forgotten and what they have sacrificed has not gone unnoticed,” Chestnut said. “We are forever thankful that they stood up to protect and defend our nation when many did not answer the call.”

She is a military spouse herself with a family, so serving military families in need is personal for her. “As a military spouse and military kid, I have seen it on both sides of the coins – service members being forgotten,” Chestnut explained. “I have seen large military families who can barely get by. It’s our duty as a company to show them we have their backs because they are protecting ours.”

The military lending team has created a vision of education and community building to be at the heart of all they do. Though they go all out throughout the year, Christmastime definitely brought the extra feels for everyone.

“Being able to give back to displaced or homeless veterans when the system has failed them would have to be the best part. Each day we see veterans who barely have the basic items to survive, but they make do. It’s that fighting spirit of our veterans that we can’t let go unnoticed nor unappreciated,” Chestnut said. “When toys are handed out during our yearly toy drives, it’s the smile on the children faces and the thank you for the service members that means everything to us. Most people forget that some service members are unable to afford a big lavish Christmas and are living paycheck to paycheck. We have to do better when supporting our service members.”

This year, the team raised $6,400 through Military May to support belonging bags for homeless veterans. Supplies were distributed across 10 locations nationwide – built together then delivered to the local veterans transitional housing shelters. “It was a special project to be a part of,” Chestnut added.

“Knowing that you are able to do your part as a team to help others only boasts morale. It makes you want to do more,” she said. “I know for us, from site to site it becomes a competition to see who can do the most, who can show up the most, who has the most military spirit.”