Community Resource Federal Credit Union, Latham, N.Y., held a bottle recycling drive throughout the local community to raise money for a donation to the Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society, an organization that depends on bottle redemption for $48,000 of its operating income.
Genisys Credit Union, Auburn Hills, Mich., sponsored local community events in September, including the Shelby Township Movie Night and the Shelby Township Art Fair. Genisys brought face painters to the movie night event, where "Shrek the Third" was shown on the big screen under the stars. At the art fair event, Genisys sponsored the Kid's Corner, where children had the opportunity to make arts and crafts.
GFA Federal Credit Union, Gardner, Mass., is planning to continue its financial education program this school year. GFA provides in-classroom presentations to help develop and enhance students' money management skills. Nine schools in several local communities participated in the financial education program over the last school year. GFA conducted 121 in-class presentations to over 1609 students ranging from kindergarten through college. The lessons are tailored to each age group, with topics ranging from basic savings to understanding credit scores, ensuring that the message is most appropriate to the students' needs. The award-winning program has been well received by teachers and school officials.
GFA FCU also recently sponsored a seminar to educate people on the options and benefits of making energy-efficient upgrades to their homes. The seminar was held at Oakmont Regional High School in Ashburnham, Mass. Representatives of the Ashburnham Municipal Light Department, Country Energy Solutions and Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company spoke about alternative energy solutions. GFA representatives covered financing options for green upgrades including their recently launched Green Loan-a home equity solution that offers benefits in helping homeowners finance energy upgrades for their homes.
Hartford Healthcare Federal Credit Union, Hartford, Conn., participated in Employee Recognition Day at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center. As employees of the credit union's select employee group enjoyed a bountiful outdoor lunch compliments of the medical center, the credit union provided information on the benefits of credit union membership along with free raffle tickets for stuffed animals and a gift certificate for dinner at a nearby restaurant. The credit union also partnered with AFLAC, the largest independent supplementary insurance provider in the U.S., to help inform Medical Center employees of its benefits as well. As an added attraction, the credit union sponsored an appearance of the AFLAC NASCAR racing car for visitors to admire.
Louisiana Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy hosted the 2010 Youth Financial Educators' Summit in Baton Rouge, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, on Sept. 27 and 28. Summit highlights included nationally recognized keynote speakers including Pam Krueger and Jack Gallagher from PBS' MoneyTrack series, and Steve Bucci, author of the books Credit Repair Kit for Dummies and Money Management All in One for Dummies. Other highlights included 18 different break-out sessions conducted by an array of state and nationally recognized experts including representatives from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer-Action, National Endowment for Financial Education, American Financial Services Association Education Foundation, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Capital One, Griffith Insurance Education Foundation, LexisNexis and more. Interactive exhibits offering no-cost/low cost educational resources and curricula were also featured.
Neighbors Federal Credit Union, Baton Rouge, La., will be offering a series of financial workshops open to the community at Family Road of Greater Baton Rouge. Titles of the workshops include "Money Management and Understanding Credit & Credit Scores," "Talking To Kids About Money," "Understanding Credit Reports & Credit Scores," and "Understanding Your Paycheck."
Philadelphia Federal Credit Union, Philadelphia, Pa., and Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, Broomall, Pa., have formed a regional roundtable group together with Sun East Federal Credit Union, American Heritage Federal Credit Union, Citadel Credit Union, People First Federal Credit Union, Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union, Diamond Credit Union, TruMark Financial Credit Union, and Freedom Credit Union.
The group started meeting in April of 2009 as a way for lenders to discuss challenges and better ways to serve credit union members, and has since grown into an important quarterly meeting that helps each participating financial institution improve their strategy, enhance marketing efforts, and develop their portfolios. Their respective marketing department colleagues were recently asked to join them to elaborate on their recent lending marketing efforts. Some recent discussion topics were regulatory changes, how to best market loans in the new economy and how to structure business lending divisions to better serve small business members.
Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union, Myrtle Beach, S.C., partnered with American Solutions for Business to give free recycled pads of paper to 29 public primary and elementary schools within the counties of Horry, Georgetown, Marion, Williamsburg and Florence. As part of the "Trash to Treasure" program, all public primary and elementary schools within the above-mentioned counties were mailed a letter offering free recycled pads of paper to each school. A number of the pads are wide-ruled for younger children to practice handwriting skills, while the rest are college-ruled for general writing purposes.
Del-One (Delaware Federal Credit Union), Dover, Del., thanked its members for their support over the past 50 years with a Member Appreciation Day on Sept. 24, 2010. In recognition of the anniversary, members visited their local Del-One branch for the opportunity to win a $50 VISA gift card, and enjoyed refreshments and other giveaways.
Diamond Credit Union, Pottstown, Pa., participated in the United Way's Day of Caring on Sept. 15, 2010. A team of ten Diamond volunteers spent the day at the Berks County Intermediate Unit assisting with the "Stuff the Bus" program, which asks local businesses and residents to donate school supplies for students in need. On the Day of Caring, volunteers unloaded these supplies, sorted them and began distributing them to local schools and organizations.
Genisys Credit Union, Auburn Hills, Mich., was a proud sponsor of Barn Daze on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010 in Lake Orion. The event, hosted by Orion Township Parks and Recreation, attracted several hundred people and included a Chamber Chili Challenge, hay wagon rides, inflatables, 4H petting farm, face painting, pony rides, hay maze, children's games, demonstrations, a photo booth and more. A team of Genisys employees, including Sara Humphreys and Elizabeth Meyer, participated in the Chamber Chili Challenge and took first place with their chili in three of the four categories.
GFA Federal Credit Union, Gardner, Mass., recently awarded bicycles to four children, recognizing their accomplishments in a summer reading program through the Ingalls Memorial Library in Rindge, N.H. In total, 104 children participated in the program ranging from preschool to fifth grade, and the top reader in each age category received a bicycle. The participants read for a total of 157,888 minutes over a five-week period. The program culminated with an event celebrating reading at the Meeting House in Rindge, which included a storyteller, snacks and the awarding of the bicycles.
Neighbors Credit Union, St. Louis, Mo., will be having a home buying seminar on Oct. 20 in Affton, Mo. The seminar, which will be conducted by a mortgage loan expert, is free and open to the community. It will focus on pre-purchase issues such as the different mortgage options, down payment options, credit reports and the mortgage lending process. There will be opportunities to ask questions after the seminar. There will also be a representative from a title company, an appraiser and a real estate agent on hand to answer any specific questions about those services.
New York Credit Union Foundation, Albany, N.Y., helped 15 New York credit unions teach teenagers financial skills in its "Money & Me" program. More than 200 teens participated in the weeklong program, developed by the New York Credit Union Foundation and delivered by credit unions, free of charge, in their communities. Through a series of hands-on lessons, participating teens learned about budgeting, saving and maintaining a checking account, credit advantages and pitfalls, planning for the future and more. Concerns about not reaching enough students through in-school programs inspired the foundation to create the program to give teens the basics of money management. This is the second year the foundation has offered the Money & Me program to credit unions.
UW Credit Union, Madison, Wis., sponsored this year's Money Smart Women Conference, entitled "Finding Financial Fulfillment," and organized in support of Money Smart Week Wisconsin, a statewide public financial literacy awareness campaign. The conference was held Oct. 2 at the Monona Terrace in Madison. It featured keynote speaker Janet Tyler Johnson, CFP, a variety of breakout sessions throughout the day, breakfast and door prizes.
Visions Federal Credit Union, Endwell, N.Y., sponsored the Children's Home Annual Ice Cream Social on Aug. 10. Ice cream and cake were served by 12 employees of the credit union, which has been a sponsor of this event for many years. Children's Home enhances the safety, stability and well being of children, families and their communities by providing comprehensive professional services, which include residential, educational, preventative and therapeutic care.
