Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union,Daleville, Ala., donated nearly $12,800 for the Cystic FibrosisFoundation after a company-wide fundraising campaign. AACFCUemployees and members raised $9,800, while the credit union donatedan additional $3,000 to the foundation. 

Connexus Credit Union, Wausau, Wis., recentlydonated $5,000 to the Northcentral Technical College Foundation tofund scholarships for the 2012-2013 school year. Connexus'scommitment to NTC began in 2003. Since that time, it has donatedfunds for scholarships, supported NTC events and initiatives, andhas provided solutions for the needs of staff andstudents. 

Financial Resources FCU, Bridgewater, N.J.,announced that its annual charity event at The Palace at SomersetPark raised $20,000 to benefit Healing the Children New Jersey and$2,000 to support the Foster and Adoptive Family ServicesFoundation. Healing the Children New Jersey assists New Jerseychildren with serious medical diagnoses and developmentaldisabilities whose families need support in meeting theirchildren's medical needs due to financial distress. The Foster andAdoptive Family Services Foundation helps foster, adoptive andkinship families in New Jersey by providing funding forscholarships, extracurricular activities, holiday celebrations andself-esteem enrichment activities. The main supporters of FinancialResources FCU's charitable event were Diebold Inc. of North Canton,Ohio, and James Toyota Kia of Flemington, N.J. Other sponsors ofthe evening were: Peter Liska, LLC; Healing the Children NewJersey; Affinity Federal Credit Union; First Brunswick PropertiesGroup; Kushner Real Estate; LeClair Ryan; McKenna, Dupont, Higgins& Stone; Merck Employees Federal Credit Union; Quality Title& Abstract; Shore Creative Group and Capital PrintingCorporation. The evening's entertainment featured magician MichaelMode. 

Hartford Federal Credit Union, Meriden, Conn.,in partnership with the Connecticut Credit Union CharitableFoundation presented 1,800 pounds of pasta to the St. FrancisEmergency Food Bank, situated in St. Francis Hospital, Hartford.The credit union has had a 51-year association with the hospital–itis the credit union's original sponsor–and partnered with the CT CUCharitable Foundation in donating the food after learning the foodbank was facing extraordinary calls for assistance from thecommunity during the challenging economy. The donation of the pastawill provide nourishment for the community for 45 days. The foodbank assists more than 1,000 families each month. 

Members Credit Union, Lenoir, N.C., recentlyheld its inaugural Wig Walk, a 5K walk/fun run benefiting the WigBank of Caldwell County. The event took place on May 12th at theAquatics and Fitness Center in Lenoir, NC. The walk brought in$5,120 for the Wig Bank, a nonprofit cancer services center thatprovides prosthetic wigs for cancer patients, promotes theimportance of cancer screenings and provides funds to cancerpatients for transportation to cancer treatment centers. DavidIcard and Alicia Stanislaw opened the doors to the Wig Bank in2001. Since then, the services offered to their community haveexpanded to include support groups such as Restorative Yoga, Arm inArm and Just Us Guys. Participants in the Wig Walk were encouragedto wear costume wigs during the 5K trek on the Greenway that windsthroughout the city of Lenoir. During the months leading up to theWig Walk event, additional funds were raised through T-shirtsponsorships that were sold for $100 each. T-shirt sponsors honoreda loved one who had lost their battle with cancer by having theirname printed on the back of the Wig Walk T-shirt. These T-shirtswere given out to the walkers who registered for the event. MembersCU and the Wig Bank are planning for a second Wig Walk in2013. 

Orion Federal Credit Union, Memphis, Tenn.,introduced its Orion Gives Back program at the beginning of2012, selecting a local non-profit each month as the focus ofits charity initiative. Thus far, Orion has donated approximately$5,500, more than 2,500 items and volunteer time in support oflocal nonprofits.lity, and you can too!

You can help by volunteering, donating, or simply telling othersabout what Literacy Mid-South does in the community. This islife-changing work, and we should all be involved January markedthe beginning of the program with a focus on the Mid-South FoodBank. Memphis Family Shelter was announced as the February focusand Literary Mid-South as the March focus. Memphis Farmers Marketwas chosen as the April focus and Clovernook Center for the Blindand Visually Impaired was May's focus. In conjunction with OrionGives Back, desktop computers and laptops have been donated to thefollowing local organizations: Seed House of Guidance, ChurchOutreach Leader, Literacy Mid-South, Memphis Area Boys & GirlsClub, Tennessee Baptist Children's Home, Memphis/Shelby CountySchools, St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, Fayette County Schoolsand the Memphis Public Library.

Silver State Schools Credit Union, Las Vegas,gave a $5,000 check to Cyril Wengert Elementary School on May 17.The school was chosen among 35 other schools which were given fivestars in the “School Performance Framework,” the Clark CountySchool District's system for ranking schools. CCSD'sSchool-Community Partnership Program worked with community partnersto develop a program to recognize the top-performing schools. Allfour and five-star schools received recognition with banners,lunches and certificates.  The five star schools wereeligible to receive the $5,000 donated by the credit union, withWengert randomly chosen as the winner. The elementary schools thathave been identified as 'high-performing' under this program gaingreater autonomy and control not only in budgeting, staffing andscheduling, but also in core areas such as instructional practicesand selection of supplemental programs and materials. TheSchool-Community Partnership program began in 1983 as a pilotprogram of seven schools partnered with seven businesses. Sincethat time, it has grown to hundreds of partnerships with programsthat range from kindergarten to 12th grade, from tutorial programsto scholarships. The Partnership Program staff offers studentsprograms that are curriculum-based with an emphasis on humanresources. Partnership ventures are designed to support, supplementand complement the curriculum of the Clark County publicschools.

St. Anne's Credit Union, Fall Rivers, Mass.,recently raised $1,875 and participated in a walk held at ColtState Park to benefit the American Heart Association. Employees,family members and friends divided up into 3 teams at the walk –“Team Wild and Kracy,” “Team Heartbeat” and “Team Heart &Sole.” 

United Heritage Credit Union, Austin, Texas,recently raised $47,865 through a raffle as a part of its charityprogram. Sandra King of Llano, Texas is the new owner of a 2012Honda Civic LX Sedan after being drawn as the winner of the UnitedHeritage Charity Foundation Auto Raffle on June 1. Through ticketsales, the United Heritage Charity Foundation raised $47,865 to bedistributed to local charities and organizations. The 2011inaugural Auto Raffle enabled the Charity Foundation to supportorganizations such as Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County,Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin, CASA of Travis County,Ripples of Hope for Children, Caring for Children, Folds of HonorFoundation and others. Since its inception in 2003, the CharityFoundation has distributed more than $1 million. Ticket sales forthe auto raffle were available for only $1 each during a two monthperiod and sales were open to the public. The second annual autoraffle experienced an increase in ticket sales of $7,876 over the2011 total of $39,989. The auto raffle winner was randomly chosenat United Heritage Credit Union's Manchaca branch amid festivitiesfor those on hand to witness the drawing.

VyStar Credit Union, Jacksonville, Fl., saidthat Terry West, president/CEO, was 2011-12 campaign chairman forthe United Way of Northeast Florida. And announced 4 that thisyear's annual campaign met its goal and raised $25.53 million. TheLeadership Recognition breakfast, “Investing In Impact –Celebrating The Power Of You,” was held at the Omni JacksonvilleHotel downtown, with more than 500 volunteers, corporaterepresentatives, impact and community partners and donors attendingthe celebration. n