Northeast Family Federal Credit Union has its own superhero. Anda real flesh and blood hero. All within the same person.

Fred Brown, marketing director at the Manchester, Conn., creditunion is not only “Credit Union Man” by day but his generous naturehas literally saved the life of a local resident. Brown recentlydonated one of his kidneys to a complete stranger.

“Back in August, I saw a report that a guy had donated hiskidney to a co-worker, and I thought, 'How neat, what a great thingto do,'” said Brown.

The day after that news report, Brown started researching whatsteps needed to be taken to donate his kidney. He later got testedand was a match for one of 1,000 patients on a waiting list for anew kidney. As an altruistic donor, Brown couldn't meet therecipient until after the procedure.

“Really this was about wanting to help save somebody's life andmaybe help inspire others to donate, too,” said Brown. “When I mether, it turns out we live one town apart and know a few of the samepeople. So far the implant has been a success, she is doing welland it is just wonderful.”

As for Brown, he too is recuperating and says he expects CU Manwill be out and about again sometime in January.

“I honestly didn't think CU Man would be this popular,” saidBrown. “Its getting bigger a lot quicker than I thought.”

The inspiration for CU Man actually came when Brown was outvisiting SEGs and as he walked in toting coffee and donuts peoplewould greet him as “the CU man.”

“Everyone would just say 'Hey, the CU Man' and I'd say call meFred, but they'd all just say CU Man so I decided to run with itand started wearing this huge nametag with a superhero graphic thatsaid CU Man,” Brown chuckled. “I realized that I didn't care whatthey called me as long as they remembered me so I made it part ofmy e-mail signature.”

As he posted answers to questions on CUNA's list serve andreceived positive comments from across the country about CU Man,Brown says it clicked that CU Man could be something more and hetrademarked the name, image and registered for a creditunionman.comWeb site.

So, born out of the frustration with big banking, CU Man hasbeen sent to earth to teach people a better way to deal with theirmoney. Brown adds that this superhero is “strong enough to knockdown high fees, leap predatory interest rates in a single bound andis faster with loan approvals.” Basically, he says CU Man can helpconsumers break away from the high cost of banking.

“We realized that CU Man would resonate with younger kids, andwe wanted people to look at it as an educational resource wherethey could find out more about money and credit unions,” saidBrown. “So in late January, CU Man will be paying a visit to fourelementary schools.”

To spread the word, Brown also incorporated a blog and “Ask CUMan” section into the site. In addition, fans can request visitsfrom CU Man, who'll bring the coffee and donuts. Brown also had acustom-made costume complete with mask created so anyone could pickup the CU Man mantle, and ordered some 5,000 CU Man temporarytattoos as part of a contest where people can send images ofthemselves sporting a CU Man tattoo to the Web site for a chance towin a $25 gift card. CU Man even makes an appearance on NortheastFamily FCU's Facebook page. Overall, Brown says the superhero hasbeen creating quite a buzz.

“We obviously don't take ourselves seriously and CU Man issomething we've created to have fun while increasing awareness.I've been surprised by the huge response and request for the CU Mantattoos,” said Brown. “When a local television station reportercame out to do a story about the kidney donation she'd heard aboutCU Man and thought it was cute. So when I educated her on it shetold me to give her a call when CU Man goes to the schools andshe'll cover it. Are we having fun? Absolutely, but we're alsogetting the word out that there is an alternative to bigbankers.”

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