Fidelity Investments + Lemontree Unite for Big Impact Going Into 2024!

Fidelity Investments is a household name, known for innovative products and services that help people from all backgrounds achieve financial mobility. Parallel to making a notable financial impact in our world, Fidelity is an essential force for good through their commitment to creating positive social change in the communities it serves. Learn more about their work in the community here. 

Last year, Lemontree worked with thousands of Fidelity employees to fight food insecurity across the US. Nicole Marquez, a Community Relations Manager, helped lead the charge, and the outcome was astounding. Through this initiative alone, Fidelity employees connected 12,860 households to food, handpicking over 47,000 food resources for our clients!

Nicole shared that our program has become so popular that they’ve started using the term “Lemontree” as a way to describe other positive service opportunities.

When asked why so many employees have chosen to volunteer with Lemontree, Nicole, who manages volunteer opportunities for remote associates, noted, “Lemontree allows us to ensure that those [remote] associates still have the same Fidelity experience, and still feel connected to the work that we're doing. It doesn't matter where they're physically located. I'm in Albuquerque, you're in New York, another volunteer could be in Phoenix, or Seattle, and they can all participate and still collectively contribute to the positive impact that we're having.”

Fidelity employees logged over 550 hours this year volunteering with Lemontree, showing their commitment to the community. In fact, we expanded the partnership halfway through the year due to demand for remote volunteering opportunities. When I commended Nicole on the passion Fidelity employees bring to serving others, she explained that Fidelity takes its social impact seriously.

“I tell people that our teams serve as connectors: we connect the community to our associates, and our associates to their community.”

She also attributed the platform’s ease-of-use and the flexibility of scheduling as key reasons Fidelity employees keep coming back. Fidelity’s partnership included a year-round self-serve option for employees to volunteer on their own time, meaning anyone could fit service into their schedule. “It’s not as if you have to log on tomorrow, between 2:00 and 2:30. Instead, you can do it this afternoon. If you have five minutes, you could do it…it's just a quick 5 minute video explaining how it works. You get to practice and then off you go.”

At the end of our interview, Nicole spoke about what it means to Fidelity volunteers to be this connecting piece for people in need: “This experience is unique because volunteers really are actively participating in something special…people have the opportunity to feel that they’re really helping somebody, no matter where they live.”

Thanks to Nicole Marquez & Fidelity for all their support! To learn more about volunteering with Lemontree, visit foodhelpline.org/volunteer.