VITA is an IRS run program where volunteers help low and moderate income families/individuals have both their federal and state taxes prepared and e-filed for free. Our credit union staff has volunteered the last three years through a local VITA site and we've hosted three Super Saturday Community Wide event that is open to all residents in our county that meet the IRS household income limit of $51,000 per year.

 

1,529,560 people died of cancer in the United States last year. Altana Federal Credit Union employees are dedicated to changing this statistic by supporting Relay for Life – a division of the American Cancer Society that supports cancer research, treatment and prevention. One of our major fundraisers includes a Las Vegas Trip Raffle. We also hold a Silent Auction fundraiser where items are donated by staff and the community. We conduct other fundraising events such as running a food booth at a local summer event, selling ice cream to our members in the summer, and $5 jeans day donations. Last year, we raised over $25,000 through our fundraising activities. 

 

AMERICHOICE FCU

Our Family Fun Extravaganza is an annual event held at AmeriChoice during the summer months!  The primary goal of our Family Fun Extravaganza was to provide our current members and the surrounding community with a fun-filled event full for children of all ages! Through this outreach, not only do we promote local businesses in the area, but we also have giveaways throughout the event. The purpose of this event is to reach out into the community and become Central Pennsylvania's trusted partner in helping members of the community achieve their financial goals.

 

The School Supply Drive (SSD), entering its seventeenth year, collects and distributes more than 70,000 supplies annually for students in grades K-12. Not only does this improve the first day of school for many local youth, it also allows them to participate and excel in the classroom throughout the year. Supplies are distributed through area schools based on need to twelve communities. The purpose of the SSD is not only to provide kids with the tools they need to succeed, but to also help underprivileged students build self-esteem and ensure that all youth in our communities have an equal opportunity to learn. 

 

Our credit union partners with Junior Achievement to bring JA's Personal Finance course to all area high schools, of which there are eleven. Bowater Credit Union provides one volunteer a semester to any of the area High Schools that request a program, and that JA can afford materials for. The program requires five 50 minute classes to teach high schoolers about planning their financial lives, saving and investing, budgeting, wise uses of credit, and being a savy consumer. These programs are especially effective because they are taught not by the teachers, but by volunteers from the business world (in our case, credit union employees).

 

Providing scholarships to high school seniors within Bronco's field of membership to provide incentive and means for young people to attend college/trade schools of their choice.

 

This year's Rock'n and Tollin' for a Cure Dance Party will take us "out west" as we "kick up our heels" to "stomp out" cancer.  The evening promises to offer a great time of dancing, food, prizes and entertainment.  Our silent auction will once again offer many wonderful handcrafted items, gift baskets, and gift certificates to bid on.  

 

The Children's Miracle Network Golf Tournament will be hosted on May 15, 2013 to raise funds for our local CMN hospitals. These funds will go to assist them in purchasing a special transport for an emergency helicopter for neonatal babies and pediatric children.

 

CU@Soup is an event designed to provide a launch pad for small businesses interested in getting funded and developing their business locally. CU@Soup is a community dinner (featuring soup) where entrepreneurs become the main event while their potential customers and fellow members get to listen and rate what they think of their concept. We ask those attending to pay a cover charge in exchange for a full meal and the ability to vote on the concepts being pitched over dinner. The cover charges are pooled to form a micro-grant which is given to the winning pitch. Additionally, the dinner allows entrepreneurs to get in front of decision makers and community leaders which could lead to them getting additional advice, business loans or even community grants.

 

We quickly got together flyers and branch hand-outs to inform our members and people in the community of Helping Hurricane Victims in Rockaway, NY.  Our staff, members and people who live and work in the community began dropping off gifts for the victims for the holidays. So many gifts were collected from around the community it took many people to bundle them and get them ready for the trip across state. The people involved later invited us to a "post-meeting" showing a video and describing the overwhelming feelings they felt when carrying out this project - thanks to all of those who gave. This was just one of many outreach projects we have done. We also take part in: HOSPICE flower sale, Hunter's Hope Walk, Miracle Network Fundraisers, Local Food Pantry, Relay for Life and many community & school fundraisers. We also help support our members who moved to Kenya and run an orphanage.

 

In September, we will hold our seventh annual "Rancho Vino" event. This event has raised more than $175,000 for our community over the last six years. For the third year in a row, the beneficiary will be our local cancer center, Mission Hope Cancer Center. We raised $52,000 for the Cancer Center in 2011 and $65,000 in 2012. The event is a food and wine tasting event, with a live and silent auction. All food and wine is donated to the event, but we do face several expenses with the venue, entertainment, etc. Any scholarships would help to defray these expenses and allow us to donate more of the funds to Mission Hope Cancer Center.

 

CORE Federal Credit Union has been pleased to offer the Madison County Community Grant Program. We have run the program in 2011 and 2012 and plan to run the program again this year. When we ran the program in 2012 we offered $2,500 in grants to our community, in return we received requests for more than $25,000 in community needs. An example of one of the group’s requests was submitted by a local library and food pantry to team up to be able to provide books for children in low income homes. Other requests have come from local a group who take in donations of bikes, fixes them up and redistributes them for free to the community. For some of the adult’s recipients of the program it is more than a form of exercise it is the primary means of transportation to get to work so they can support their families.

COUNTY-CITY CREDIT UNION

We will be implementing a "Random Acts of Kindness Initiative" which will entail our team of 16 employees going out into our local community as a group, and unannounced, to perform random acts of service to benefit members of our community. Acts of kindness include snow shoveling, yard raking, providing meals/groceries to families in need, spending time socializing with lonely or depressed seniors, visiting members of the community who have recently lost loved ones to sing 'happy birthday' to them on their birthday, providing warm winter gear to children in needy families, etc.

 

We are involved with our local animal shelter all year round. The 1st Friday of every month, the animal shelter volunteers bring in adoptable kittens and dogs onsite at the CU. And almost every pet gets adopted. We have restaurant placemats that DCCU purchases ad space and the proceeds go to the Animal Shelter. DCCU employees held a bake sale and cutest pet contest, we raised $500 and all proceeds went to the Animal Shelter. We were a major sponsor  for a 1 night event called "Goes the Cats and Dogs" at a local pub. And "Fur Raiser" at our local Casino. We have donation boxes on the teller line for our members to donate to and give the Animal Shelter the proceeds monthly. We also have an employee and several members who volunteer at the Animal Shelter and are on the Board of Directors.

 

Our community outreach program is an internally created series of financial education presentations. The programs cover classes/events for kindergarten through senior citizens, and include banking basics, budgeting, credit score/report, identity theft, understanding borrowing, credit cards and bankruptcy. For  elementary age children we have a life-sized game that allows the children to be the game pieces. Each child earns a pay and travels through the game experiencing, earning, saving, spending, giving and even debt. There are also Teen and Adult versions of this game that are tabletop sized with actual adult jobs. In addition we have many worksheets and "homework" assignments to keep our attendees engaged through out a series of classes.

 

Monarchs on a Mission - CU at the Finish Line - American Cancer Society - Relay for Life of Central Berks. Relay for Life represents Celebrating Cancer Survivors, remembering those lost to cancer and fighting back against cancer. Fighting cancer is a team effort with Discovery Federal Credit Union employees raising over $10,000 in 2012. During 2010-2011, the American Cancer Society) served individuals diagnosed with cancer and their families in many ways. Here are some of the highlights for Berks County, Pennsylvania: 989 patients received information; 142 cancer patients received rides or transportation assistance and 57 women received free wigs during treatment.

 

Every year, Eastmill Federal Credit Union raises money for our Christmas fund. Every Friday, we dress down for a dollar. Earlier this month, we had our 50/50 raffle. People in the community donated money towards the fund, for a chance to win gas and restaurant gift cards. Another fundraiser we put on is our “Spirit Week” in March. That week we put together contests and prizes for our members. Other fundraising includes our November bake sale, and prize giveaways. Last year we raised a total of $4,000 dollars. 100% of our fundraising goes into our Christmas fund.

 

Money Smart Week is a campaign to bring free financial literacy education to our communities. Each year as part of our MSW programming, we sponsor an essay contest wherein students in grades 5-12 (two age divisions) write responses to a question posed regarding a financial literacy topic or dilemna. This year the contest is being expanded to include high school students warranting the need to raise additional funds for scholarship prizes.

 

There are many things that the American Cancer Society does. They provide rides for patients and their caregivers. They have a program called Look Good Feel Good that provides wigs for patients that have lost their hair. The American Cancer Society rallies people to fight back against cancer. From dancing at galas to playing golf or walking with a four legged friend, participation at Society events raises funds to move us closer to a world with less cancer and more birthdays. 

 

We are working on a plan to partner private & public to put college students into the Headstart classrooms. They will work one on one with the youngsters to help them learn to read. We are in a low income area and have thousands of children in need of extra attention.

 

In 2012 we gave more to civic and nonprofit organizations than any other year in our 80-year history. We provided scholarships to local students, we supported youth athletic teams, we provided busing for school related field trips, we sponsored an event for our local arts association, we gave to an organization that provides free vehicle repair and vehicles to those in need and we generously supported our local food shelf. On January 19, we hosted the first annual Hops for Hunger. Hops for Hunger was organized and supported by Financial One employees, with the assistance of employees at the food shelf it benefited.  We approached this event as an opportunity to multiple our donation dollars. At the end of the day, the event raised enough money to purchase 65,000 lbs of food for the SACA food shelf.  

 

FHCU had a special loan promotion for November and December 2012 - 1/2% off loan rate if members brought in canned goods for the Local Food Pantry.

 

We took a leadership role and contacted all of the credit unions in the area to see if they would participate as a team in Stock the Shelves. We partnered with 17 local Credit unions for the drive. We also worked with the Post-Crescent our local newspaper and partnered with two of local foundations to “match” donations from the community with us. This year we raised over $285,000 in the Fox Cities area; this was the biggest dollar amount ever raised, more than the first fourteen years of the STS drive combined. We put shopping carts from Festival Foods (with the help of FVTC truck driving school) into every branch and had signage for the entire group of credit unions.

 

Last year, we partnered with a local elementary school to develop a savings program, the Spartan Savers Club, for students. We began by asking parents to enroll their children into the program by opening a savings account for them. The classroom that opened the most accounts won a pizza party. Then, we would visit the elementary school on the first Thursday of every month for a Savings Day. Students would stop and make deposits into their savings account and would pick up monthly finance-based activity sheets. For each deposit that they handed in and each activity sheet they completed, they received stamps in their passbooks. These stamps can be redeemed for various prizes. We’ve partnered with a high school teacher to have six high school seniors visit the elementary school once per month to give presentations on financial topics to each classroom. In addition, we’re coordinating with local businesses to have guest speakers give presentations on how their business was started and how knowing about finance helps their business. We’re also working with the school to plan a field trip for 5th graders to visit businesses in our community to see how various businesses operate, including a tour of our credit union.

 

We participate in annual fundraisers and donation drives to benefit our local community. Throughout the year, we sell tickets to our local children’s museum to raise funds for our local children’s hospital (Golisano Children’s Hospital) through the Credit Unions for Kids program. We raise additional funds by participating in jeans days where employees are encouraged to wear jeans to work for a donation of $5 or more. We also hold various fundraising drives in October to generate funds for the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester, a local organization that helps provide educational information and different types of support for breast cancer patients, survivors and their family members. During the summer months, we attend two local summer celebrations in the towns that we serve. We sponsor one celebration and attend the other as a community organization. We will have a table at each event where we will sell LED flashing bracelets to raise funds for Credit Unions for Kids while increasing awareness of our credit union and the credit union difference. 

 

Each year, Georgia’s Own Credit Union partners with the local area Atlanta Credit Union to raise funds for Children’s Miracle network at their Annual Bowl-a-Thon. This year, more than 40 teams came out to bowl at the event, which took place on August 18th. Georgia’s Own Credit Union had 5 teams and raised $2115 for CMN. Through corporate sponsorships and individual fundraising, the Greater Atlanta Chapter of Credit Unions raised more than $37,000, which went to support rehabilitation services at the Prosthetic Fabrication Lab and Robotics Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Georgia’s Own chooses a charity to assist each year at our annual staff team building event, GOCYou Day. Through team building exercises, employees not only bond and learn the skills necessary to work as a team, we also incorporate charitable giving into the day. At our event in November, our staff was able to hear from Sharon Robinson, the Manager at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and learn more about the work performed at our children’s hospitals. In addition, our staff also had the opportunity to meet a miracle family and discover the journey that a family encountered when their daughter was diagnosed with a rare illness. Finally, our employees spent several hours team-building by playing Minute To Win It games, and earning items that the Credit Union would later donate to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Georgia’s Own was honored to be a float sponsor in the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas parade. The parade draws more than 300,000 spectators and raises a tremendous amount of money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Georgia’s Own participated at the highest level, which is a float sponsor, by selling candy bars at our branch locations to help raise the funds needed for this sponsorship. Enthusiastic employees dressed as elves walked down the streets of Atlanta with the Toy and Elf float, proudly representing Georgia’s Own Credit Union in support of Children’s Healthcare.

 

Our goal is to provide a financial workshop that is fun & free to middle school students during National CU Youth Week in April.  Using a theme to tie in a fun topic with a financial one--coordinating props, setting, food/snacks, & marketing/advertising with a "sleuth/detective " theme on "The Case of the Missing Identity" or "Mission Possible" (money management). To award a few door prizes & have giveaways for all to also tie in the theme to the topic. I have conducted successful high school themed financial workshops in the past & this year want to reach younger students with this additional workshop.

 

Investing in Tomorrow is an all encompassing youth program that we have been developing and expanding for the last ten years. We started by sponsoring a Financial Literacy program called Making the Right Money Moves to be taught in ALL of the local Middle and High Schools. We also include "In School" Presentations taught by our staff and School Tours of our Credit Union for the Middle School Career Classes. In an effort to recognize Academic Achievement within the schools, we also started a T-shirt program around five years ago which is awarded to students from Elementary to High School for good grades. Around six years ago, we began the Back to School Carnival to help parents provide free school supplies to their students while they have some fun playing games. This is run by our CU staff who also dress up as clowns to take pictures with the kids. Last year we began a Scholarship program for graduating Seniors from four of our local High Schools.

 

This year, we were SO proud to start our very first High School Branch Credit Union. We currently have four students participating in the program working as tellers and a marketing team. We have our own classroom assigned to us for the year, and have it set up just like a "branch" including a custom built teller kiosk. We are working closely with the school to make sure this is a successful partnership that gives the students a completely encompassing work experience (from applications, interviews, training, to Summer internships and job references).

 

We raise money throughout the year for our local Children's hospital. We do everything from selling BBQ plates, to Worlds Finest Chocolate and even as far as removing the snack and drink machine and selling snacks and drinks to staff with all funds going to Credit Unions for Kids. We even do a Silent Auction each year before Christmas of designer bags that are donated by a very sweet lady. This year we raised over $1300 just on the Silent Auction! Our grand total this year was $10,000!

 

In an effort to benefit people in our community we offer a free movie night once a quarter to the entire community. We select a family movie, publicize the showing date through free tickets at all of the local elementary schools in Jackson County, as well as in our lobby, on local television, and through word of mouth. At the movie night we have several carnival type games set up for kids to play before the movie. We also hire balloon tying artists. Every child is allowed to play the games as much as they want and to get balloons tied for them. When they play the games they are given tickets to enter into the drawing for prizes after the movie. We give away at least 5 different prizes to some of the children based on the ticket entries. We also provide the kids a goodie bag as they enter the theater with theme related gifts based on the movie. All of this is free to the kids and their families. We have had crowds of over 1,000 people attend. We also do this at the historic theater in downtown Jackson to help the local business in that area.

 

Feeding the homeless and needy on Pittsburgh's North Side The United Methodist Church Union Congregate Feeding Program helps feed the homeless and less fortunate people at the New Hope United Methodist Church on Pittsburgh's North Side.The ministry provides on average over 1,000 hot meals per month and operates entirely on donations and the efforts of volunteers. Keystone UMFCU has partnered with this program to offer volunteer support, supplies, and other assistance.

 

KimCentral Credit Union and Winnebago CountyWide Crime Stoppers value a safe and drug/alcohol FREE community within Winnebago County. In addition, we recognize that this mission starts with the continued education of our youth within Winnebago County. At KimCentral, we feel the more we involve those most affected, the easier it will become to achieve our goal of keeping the communities we live in safe of crime and drug free. KimCentral Credit Union is asking school booster clubs, organizations, groups or teams to create a two-minute video highlighting an anti-Bullying message. It must must include one line for texting a crime tip to Winnebago CountyWide Crime Stoppers which is Text your tip, “IGOTYA to 274637”. The winning video will win $1,500 for their group and $3,500 for the school they represent.

 

Money$mart Kids Camp- This inaugural summer enrichment camp will inspire youth to learn about personal finances in a fun environment. Camp sessions will be held at the credit union for K-2nd and 3rd-5th grade levels. Lessons and activities will meet Louisiana state education standards utilizing resources from Jump$tart Coalition, Biz Kid$ and other national programs. This one-of-a-kind program will help strengthen youth financial literacy in our community. 

 

Upon recognizing a significant level of need among the Greater Boston not-for-profit community for both affordable banking services as well as fundraising support. Liberty Bay Credit Union developed a community outreach program that focused on delivering a comprehensive package of banking solutions designed specifically for not-for-profits, as well as an action-oriented plan to give back to member charitable organizations by way of event and fundraising support. Details of both key program elements are as follows: Banking for Not-for-Profits - Based on the tagline “You give, now it’s time to receive” the banking products and services portion of the platform focused on finding solutions to key issues. Not-for-Profit Organizational Support - While not-for-profit organizations typically have a handle on volunteers, they struggle in locating and affording qualified resources to assist in critical fundraising efforts. Liberty Bay focused on this need to add a service-based element to the relationship with existing and prospective not-for-profit members. 

LUSO FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Luso Federal Credit Union has always been and will continue to be committed to increasing financial literacy awareness. In addition to Luso’s current in school banking program in 2013, Luso will be offering the Junior Achievement Financial Literacy program to all of the schools that participate in Luso’s school banking program.  Luso will fund the program, teach the literacy classes using the Junior Achievement materials, and/or find business community representatives to teach the classes. The Junior Achievement classes are designed to educate today’s youth about financial literacy using age appropriate activities which ultimately lead to real life situations where students participating in the program will make financial decisions in a ‘real world’ environment without ‘real world’ consequences. To date, 34 classrooms have signed up to participate in the program which will currently reach 734 students!

LYNCHBURG MUNICIPAL EFCU

We participate with local Credit Unions sponsoring a golf tournament to raise funds for the CMN. Each Credit Union has their own fund raiser and then we pool everything in to one donation.

 

Maps Credit Union hosted a community contest encouraging members to propose new solutions to address teen homelessness in our community. The winning entry earned a $1,000 prize for the applicant and a $1,000 prize for a community agency capable of implementing the solution. The winning concept, a culinary arts program for homeless teens, has gained additional grant funding because of the seed money from Maps Credit Union. The program is now in its first iteration and will include an ongoing partnership with Maps Credit Union providing financial education, savings accounts, and incentives for these teens earning income for the first time. The Community Challenge was successful in drawing attention to our Free Community Checking program, which generates a one-cent donation to Maps' community involvement efforts for each debit card purchase made. This contribution to the community results in approximately $45,000 per year in community investments. 

 

Marine FCU believes in the philosophy of "people helping people". In 2012 we raised $140,000 from our annual charity golf tournament with $70,000 going to Hope for the Warriors and $70,000 going to the USO. The employees also raised over $18,000 for relay for Life and over $11,000 to purchase a service dog for one of our young members with a rare illness. We donated to Elder Cheer, did holiday gift baskets for families in need, gave 20 scholarships totaling $40,000, donated $30,000 to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation and $21,000 to United Way. In total Marine FCU gave over $300,000 to our communities in 2012.

 

MEA Federal Credit Union will partner with the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia to provide financial literacy training and education as an ongoing venture. Girls from 2nd grade through high school will participate in the program. We seize this opportunity to help teach our youth about credit unions, their philosophy and their history of service in America and throughout the world.

 

The Wig Walk is a 5K walk and fun run to benefit the Wig Bank of Caldwell County in North Carolina. The Wig Bank is a non profit cancer services center that provides prosthetic wigs for cancer patients, promotes the importance of cancer screenings and provides funds to cancer patients for transportation to cancer treatment centers in Winston-Salem, NC and Tennessee. They do not charge for anyone for these support services and they help everyone who asks for support.

 

We run a financial reality fair which is an interactive simulation for teens that teaches them to manage family finances as an adult. Each participant is given a job, income, a family, and debt. They are given the task to visit nine stations, or merchants, to make purchasing and financial decisions regarding their housing, food, transportation, child care, home necessities, clothing, entertainment, and credit card payments. There will be a Members CU station for saving money and retirement account contributions. And just like in real life, there are good surprises and emergencies expenses. So, there will be a station to randomly give out windfall payments and emergency bills. As they go to each station, participants will keep up with their spending (budget worksheets and calculators are provided by Members CU). After visiting every station and completing the financial decision making requirements, the goal is to have no more than $100 left in their checking account (simulation is based on one month's pay and monthly expenditures).
 

In conjunction with Pinnacle Bank, MembersOwn Credit Union is working with Beatrice Public Schools to set up 'banking' in the elementary schools with the intent to educate children in financial education, how to save, etc. 

 

For years, Mid American Credit Union has provided financial support and more than 250 volunteer hours annually to a financial literacy project in area public schools. For the past three years we’ve been involved with a summer camp organized by the Wichita Police Department, the city manager’s office and the city’s parks and rec department. We saw an opportunity to provide an education component and contribute to those positive activities by offering a financial literacy program that encourages the kids to find ways to earn and save money. We reward the top savers at each camp location with cash prizes. In 2012, we expanded our youth financial literacy program to include the local Boy Scouts council. We provide a curriculum that fulfills the personal finance component of the eagle merit badge process. Based on our success with the summer camp program for at-risk youth and with the Boy Scouts, we are now working with the local Urban League and with the local Girl Scouts council.

 

The Mid Missouri Credit Union is gearing up for the 8th Annual Military Appreciation Night at the Springfield Cardinals Saturday, 22 June, 2013. We will be extending an invitation to the Springfield Army Recruiters to set up activities and will have some military vehicles on display in front of the stadium and we are currently working on a pre-game celebration honoring the men and women who are or have served our Country. Last year we were able to put over 2,000 service members and their families in a seat at no cost to them. Our goal is to raise $19,500 which will provide 2,500 tickets to be given away to service members and their families as well as transportation for soldiers, fireworks, and prizes at the game.

 

Partner with Interfaith Works, placed co-branded collection bins in MAFCU branches and I.W. partner facilities. Advertised in newsletter, Facebook, emails to members, signs in branches.

 

Attract community members to the credit union's branch to raise awareness through a high visibility (DIY - Do It Yourself themed) event partnered with Lowe's. Provide "how to" workshops and demonstrations in the parking lot and inside the credit union. Promote home equity loans and membership to the community to help them save money, time and learn how to do home improvements from the Pros.

 

Each year, The New Orleans Firemen’s FCU (NOFFCU) partners with Children’s Hospital Guild of New Orleans to host an event that brings joy and smiles to the children that are hospitalized. The event, named  Summer Celebration of Spot’s Birthday is now held in July. NOFFCU has formed a committee of employees that shop throughout the year for age appropriate toys ranging from ages 0 to 18. On the day of the event, together with the Guild volunteers and hospital staff, we sort the gifts by age groups, decorate carts, and organize by floor and room number the gifts to be given out. Our mascot, Spot and his sister Speckles (in true Dalmatian costume) along with at least 5 volunteers per cart, visit each floor, each room to deliver a gift and have a picture taken with the child (if requested) by parent. We also hand out a small treat to any siblings that are visiting and the nursing staff on duty. Last year over 202 gifts were purchased, wrapped and distributed to every patient in the hospital! 

 

Northland’s adult workshops teach basic financial concepts beneficial to residents struggling in the current economy. Workshops are free to the public and appropriate for anyone trying to maximize financial resources and minimize debt. Previous attendees have included young adults starting out, couples rebuilding after job loss or other financial setbacks and retirees trying to make the most of their fixed income. Workshop topics have included: Managing Your Money (Paying yourself first, creation and use of a spending plan, understanding pay statements and utilizing financial institution services), Your Money in the Balance (How to save for the future while paying down debt), Borrowing Basics (Can you afford to borrow? How to improve your credit score, understanding loan terms, recognizing predatory lenders), Identity Theft (Protecting yourself by understanding and monitoring your credit report, warning signs, what to do if it happens to you). At each event, participants take home giveaways and a packet of information containing class materials, worksheets and additional resources for study. From 11/11 – present, we’ve held a total of eight workshops in five separate communities with 88 attendees. We’ve already experienced repeat visitors, and have served 56 unique attendees thus far.

NORTHWEST GEORGIA CREDIT UNION

Five years ago, we realized that we had an unusually high concern about the financial literacy of our members and community. We decided that aggressively offering financial education to young people in our community would be the best way we could strategically combat the problems of financially hindered adults in the future. We implemented this strategy by creating our own copyrighted financial literacy program for local classrooms called Embark!. After experiencing phenomenal success, we decided to take the program to the next level in 2010. We established the learn.grow.”umbrella brand” for our entire financial literacy initiative, which included our classroom efforts. The classroom element of learn.grow. is a free K-12  program we offer to every school in our local market. The lessons are interactive and involve a credit union employee instructing the students. Each lesson is recommended for an age group, and each lesson tells teachers which state education performance standard it supports. To help connect teachers, students and parents with the credit union after we leave, we bring coupons and information about our education-based savings accounts. We market the program by delivering marketing materials to all schools twice a year, speaking at faculty meetings, email blasts, website information, and word-of-mouth. 

NORWAY COMMUNITY CU

Dickinson County Relay For Life - We are joining together as a credit union to help raise money for the American cancer society to help raise money for research for cancer. Every dollar is one step closer to a cure!

 

OMNI "Gives Back" Grant Program OMNI’s most unique and successful community outreach has been the OMNI “Gives Back” Grant Program. Why is the program unique and successful? It was developed out of a focus on the Credit Union Philosophy of “people helping people”, and has met a community need. We discovered that many non-profit organizations had lost funding not only from what used to be local banks, but other sources as well. In 2010, we launched the OMNI “Gives Back” Grant Program to fill that void for the non-profit organizations that are vital to the communities we serve. To date, we have awarded $140,000 in grants to over seventy non-profit organizations, and have once again renewed our program in 2013 to award an additional $50,000 in grants.

 

P&G Credit Union Annual Golf Tournament fundraiser to benefit St. Joseph's Center in Scranton, PA P&G Credit Union staff volunteer to organize all aspects of the event to raise money for a very special facility that gives people hope and the quality of life they might not have otherwise. St. Joseph’s Center strives to be a sign of hope to individuals and families who have special needs. Beginning as an orphanage back in 1888, St. Joseph’s has evolved, in response to changing needs, into a multifaceted service provider. Today, individuals diagnosed with Intellectual disability or a developmental delay, pregnant women, young families, couples hoping to adopt, and people who require outpatient therapy can find help at St. Joseph’s Center.

 

Friends of the Children of the Klamath Basin - This is an at-risk children's mentor program helping at-risk children for 12 years with the primary goals of making sure they stay in school, helping them to stay out of the judicial system, and helping prevent early parenting. They have been in our community for 13 years now, graduating their first 8 students last year!  Excellent program!

 

In late November each year, we partner with our local FOX affiliate, WACH, to promote a food and donation drive we have to support our local food bank, Harvest Hope. Leading up to this one day event, we collect food and monetary donations at each of our 13 locations for two and a half weeks, which is promoted as an early drop off location through all marketing channels. WACH creates commercials to promote this event, as well as promotes through their website, social media and email marketing. We also promote this through our offices, our website, social media and email marketing. We present all the donations we collect live on air during the food drive. Last year, through contributions from members, staff (including blue jean casual day money raised) and a corporate contribution, we were able to provide donations that totaled more than 40,000 pounds of food for those in need during the holiday season! In total during the Share Your Holiday food drive last year, food and monetary donations totaling 1.3 million pounds of food was raised.

 

Each year, we recruit team members to join us in the fight against breast cancer and support the Palmetto Health Breast Center. The event is the Walk for Life / 5K & 10K Race for Life, which is the largest single charity walk in South Carolina. We have been forming an team for this event for over 10 years, and have often been recognized for having the largest single team. In 2012, we formed our largest team ever with 480 members! Individual team registration for this event is $25 online or $30 by paper. We allow team members to sign up either way, but only charge them $25 (the credit union pays the additional $5 to the charity). We also sell pink ribbons at our offices in July and October to help raise additional funds, with all money raised donated to the Breast Center. In total, from walk/race registrations, pink ribbon sales and other donations, we raised over $17,000 in 2012.

PALMETTO CITIZENS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Since 2008, we have continued to host a series of no-cost document shredding days for members of the community to help keep information out of the hands of identity thieves. We host these events at one of our offices each month in March through November on the third Tuesday each month from 9am-1pm and 3pm-6pm. Our credit union's shredding company, Shred 360, partners with us on these events and provides the actual shredding service. We also offer special incentives to consumers who wish to join our credit union this day and for members who choose to open additional accounts. In 2012, we assisted nearly 3,000 consumers in shedding 73.5 tons of personal information. In total since 2008, we've helped nearly 10,000 people in shredding over 260 tons of personal information. We promote these events using our website, email marketing, social media, local newspaper ads and lobby materials. 

 

245 pounds, 15 years old. That's the average weight and age of students in Granby High School's new course for young girls hoping to shape up. The girls enrolled in P.E. Enhancement earn academic credit to learn about nutrition, run track, lift weights, and do jumping jacks and squats. It's the only such credit-bearing course among public school divisions in South Hampton Roads. At Granby, physical education teachers developed the one-credit course, which began in September 2011, based on the physical education Standards of Learning curriculum. Teachers Juanita Etheridge and Bridgette Berthold said some students have lost nearly 30 pounds and now can run a mile in 12 minutes, compared with 20 when the class began. Staying healthy at school also is challenging because of peer pressure, they said. The class boosts students' self-image, so they feel confident working out and making healthy choices. Last year, PortAlliance Federal Credit Union opened Norfolk’s first student-run credit union branch inside Granby High School to promote financial literacy and give students a hands-on experience to help learn money management skills. That is where we met Ms. Etheridge and saw first-hand what her program can do. She asked for our support in getting these girls financially fit also. All around the country, budgets are non-existent for public school programs like this, so we would like to support this program by creating a Financial Fitness program for the course that includes an incentive program to encourage the girls to excel, and possibly providing water bottles, towels, pedometers and the like for the students as well.

 

Each month, Rocky Mountain Credit Union sends employees to volunteer at Helena Food Share, a food bank in our community. While our partnership is primarily one of volunteering staff time to assist with whatever needs they have on those particular days, we would like to increase our financial support of this facility and broaden our support of a similar organization in our other market: Bozeman/Belgrade, MT.

 

The SECU Scholarship, through the University Systems of Maryland Foundation (USMF), specifically focuses on transfer students who have attended and graduated from an in-state, two year community college, and are looking to continue their education at a four-year Maryland University.  SECU will make funds available to the USMF to facilitate the scholarship program in the form of scholarships to students with merit achievement, but  financial hardship as incentive to continue their education, and do so in-state,  which is a key driver to ensure recent graduates enter into the Maryland work-force. Why the Focus on Community College Transfer Students?: Lack of scholarship opportunities currently available for transferring students; Highly qualified transfer students are not as likely to receive scholarships from four-year institutions, which generally direct scholarship dollars toward freshmen or toward retention of high-achieving or needy students who are already enrolled at the institution; Incent current community college graduates to continue their education at an in-state Maryland University as data shows that graduates of Maryland four-year colleges are more likely to stay in-state when joining the work-force.

 

Community Shred Day is held twice a year, and we invite the community to bring in all their personal tax papers, bank statements and any other paper that may have their personal information on it and shred it right before their eyes. We shred all the paper for free and ask for donations to the Local Food Pantry. All shredded paper is recycled.

 

School Supply Donation - St. Tammany FCU presented $50.00 checks to each of the 60 public schools in St. Tammany Parish in July. 

ST TAMMANY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

 

"MBA" Summer Camp aka Mini Billionaire Academy - The CU hosts an annual financial literacy camp for local middle schools utilizing the NEFE financial literacy program. This summer will be the second year we are looking at conducting the week long camp. Link to last year's camp: http://www.tlfcu.org/site/Resources/News/MBA-Mini-Billionaire-Academy-Camp-now-in-session

 

Tradewinds teamed up with several local business to collect items for the residents of the Michigan Veterans Home: http://jetcosolutions.com/2012/09/looking-ahead-to-veterans-day/

 

Mad City Money, a simulation and financial boot camp for high school students, teaches basic money management in a safe, fun setting. The 3 hour hands-on simulation appeals to teens and gives them a taste of the real world-complete with occupation, salary, spouse, student loan debt, credit card debt, and medical insurance payments. Teens get an instant family and then move about the stations to purchase housing, transportation, food, clothing, household necessities, day care and other needs. Teens learn that erasers and calculators are important tools for creating a monthly budget. It requires teenagers to integrate their knowledge of money, math skills, attitude about choices, and money values. During the program, participants make decisions with immediate repercussions that might not occur for years in real life. They have an opportunity to modify their decision and actions and see the impact of changes right away. They have chances to experiment and make mistakes – and suffer the consequences of their decisions – in a realistic, but safe, environment. Travis Credit Union conducted 6 Mad City Money Financial Boot Camps this year educating more the 360 youth. This year we have scheduled six more and have waiting lists for participants.

 

Every fall, UNO holds Privateer Plunge, a fun-filled and educational series for incoming freshmen. Privateer Plunge introduces participants to all the resources and opportunities available to them as a UNO student. Participants are required to attend twelve seminars over their first six weeks at UNO.  Many freshmen are inexperienced when it comes to monitoring their own finances. Some freshmen receive awards for living expenses but are unable to understand concept of budgeting. If awarded a scholarship, UNOFCU will hold three seminars during Privateer Plunge to educate incoming freshmen on how to manage their finances and protect their identities. As UNOFCU works so closely with UNO, we see it as our community and social responsibility to assist students and staff in any way possible to improve their financial health. The purpose of these seminars is to educate young men and women on managing their finances, eliminating frivolous spending, saving their money, and how this saved money can be spent most beneficially. Privateer Plunge is our opportunity to start UNO students off on the right financial path.

VACATIONLAND FEDERAL CR UN

VLFCU is committed to making a positive impact on our surrounding communities.  This vision kept us heavily involved with many efforts in 2012. Major sponsorships for the year included the Bay Area Soccer League, Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl 4 Kids’ Sake, United Way of Erie County, Great Lakes Chapter March of Dimes Walk, Cystic Fibrosis Jail Break 5K, Stein Hospice & the Good Grief Camp, Teen Leadership Corps, Sandusky State Theatre’s Children Matinee Series, Wightman Weiber/Firelands Regional Medical Center Hearts in Flight, and Girls’ Night Out Bras for a Cause. Contributions were also made to the Foundation for Firelands and the NOMS Women’s Center to assist cancer patients with treatment. In the past year, VLFCU also partnered with other organizations to promote community fundraisers and events. Such partnerships included the United Way Stuff the Bus Campaign, the Norwalk Elementary PTO Fair, Sandusky Mall Fun Day, BAS Broadcasting Coats for Caring, Cedar Point Trick or Treat, and Double S Industries Halloween Happenings.  We also provided financial literacy presentations to students in grades 3-12 and junior achievement participants within several local school districts. In April, we invited the public to our 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt.  In May, we awarded scholarships to six student members graduating from high school. Our very own Change Agent Squad hosted “Paws for a Cause” in June to help the Erie County Humane Society collect shelter supplies and food for the animals. When football season came around, the VLFCU cuBe truck showed up to a several of high school games, and we even sponsored a mascot race between the Perkins Pirate, the SMCC Panther, and our very own Dollar Dog.  During the holidays, VLFCU hosted a toy drive to benefit the children served by the Erie County Department of Jobs & Family Services and the Sandusky Salvation Army.

VIRGINIA EDUCATORS CREDIT UNION

Hampton Roads Financial Literacy - A collaboration between VECU, Christopher Newport University, and Junior Achievement.

 

Every year for the past 10 we have been involved with the American Cancer Society through the West Seneca Relay for Life. Last year through our fundraising efforts resulted in raising over $15,000 with a 9 year to date total of over $67,000. This year we will try to exceed past the $15,000 raised in 2012 with fundraising such as: 40 inch TV raffle donated by the WNYFCU, Beer Blast and Chinese Auction, Pet Fashion Show, Bake Sale, candy bar sales, and alot of team individual fundraising.

 

WCFCU takes great pride in taking part in community service  and outreach programs. With each event we are involved with we try to have an understanding of each person's unique needs, values, challenges and goals.