Aggieland Credit Union, College Station, Texas,raised more than $1,600 over the course of 2012 for the St. JudeChildren's Research Hospital through the credit union's employeeGive Back Days. Give Back Days are a chance for employees tofundraise one day a month by wearing jeans and a maroon ACU poloshirt. With 17 branches across the state of Texas, employees chosea national organization to receive the funds versus splitting it upbetween individual chapters of the organization in Texas. Creditunion members are also welcome to donate to the charity any day ofthe year and are informed of the fundraiser with Give Back Daysigns in each branch lobby. Aggieland Credit Union staff vote everyDecember on the charity they will support for the upcomingyear.

Altura Credit Union, Riverside, Calif.,continued a holiday tradition last year by raising funds forRiverside County Medical Center's Pediatrics Units as part of the23rd annual festival of trees. Fifty local organizations,including Altura, each decorate a Christmas tree that is sold aspart of the event, with the proceeds going to the medical center.The five-day event attracts more than 30,000 people each year andis the main fundraising event for the medical center and a majorholiday event in the community.  Each year about $500,000is raised with the proceeds used to purchase much-needed equipmentfor the children's units, including the Neonatal Intensive CareUnit, the Child Abuse & Neglect Unit, and the PediatricIntensive Care Unit. 

Belvoir Federal Credit Union, Woodbridge, Va.,employees contributed over $1,500 to an employee giving fund thatprovided gifts to those in need last holiday season. The employeesof Belvoir Federal have made supporting families in need an annualtradition through the USO's Adopt-A-Family program, the FortBelvoir Chaplin, and Operation Sugarplum, provided by ArmyCommunity Service. With the donations of credit union employees,Belvoir Federal was able to adopt 10en children from the USOMetropolitan Washington and one military family of four. Thoseadopted by Belvoir Federal were presented with gifts to help maketheir holidays a little brighter. Belvoir Federal also donated $300to the Operation Sugarplum program, which provided eligiblefamilies assigned to Fort Belvoir gifts or food cards during theholidays.

Diamond Credit Union, Birdsboro, Pa., branchlocated in the Reading Hospital hosted a donation drive for theReading Health Rehabilitation Hospital as part of its Diamond Caresinitiative. The Rehabilitation Hospital supports individuals whohave experienced functional loss or disability as a result of anaccident, illness or injury. Through October and November of 2012the branch collected new and used books, DVD movies, magazines andmonetary donations. The supplies will be used to entertain patientsduring their stay at the hospital. The monetary donations weregiven as part of a scholarship program and fees for patients'continuing rehabilitation.

Illinois Credit Union League, Naperville, Ill.,and staff provided toys for the Walter and Connie PaytonFoundation. The toy drive was one of several charitable actionscarried out by ICUL in 2012, which included its annual food drive,blood donation drives, monthly jeans-days fundraising and directfinancial donations to food pantries and soup kitchens throughoutthe state. The WCPF works closely with the Illinois Department ofFamily Services to ensure that the neediest children in the stateof Illinois receive these gifts.  Each year, thefoundation provides for approximately 14,000children. 

Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union, Lowell, Mass.,announce that their members and employees were able to donatehundreds of new, unwrapped toys to this year's U.S. Marine CorpsReserve's Toys for Tots drive. The U.S. Marine Corps Reservessponsors Toys for Tots to help less fortunate children experiencethe joys of the holiday season by delivering, through a new toy, amessage of hope and inspiration. Since its inception in 1947, Toysfor Tots has distributed more than 452 million toys to more than209 million children.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Manhattan Beach, Calif., held its annual holiday food drivedistribution event. Over 1,000 local families identified byparticipating community-based organizations as those in need overthe holiday season received a bag of traditional Thanksgiving fooditems, along with a $75 gift certificate, courtesy of Kinecta Federal Credit Union.  This annual event is anopportunity for employees of Kinecta Federal Credit Union and itssubsidiary Nix Financial to collaborate with more than 35 nonprofitorganizations and churches on a countywide effort to providetemporary relief to  needy families. More than $53,000 wasraised through member, employee and customer donations.

LBS Financial Credit Union in Lakewood, Calif.,and their employees donated hundreds of toys, gifts and basic careitems to the children, parents and seniors served by ProjectShepherd in Lakewood. The donations were collected during thecredit union's annual holiday breakfast in December.  LBSFinancial hosts an employee holiday breakfast at an offsitelocation. The employee holiday breakfast committee selected ProjectShepherd for this year's employee gift donation. About 175 LBSFinancial employees attended this year's breakfast and many broughtmore than one gift. 

NuVision Federal Credit Union, HuntingtonBeach, Calif., supported many charitable organizations throughoutSouthern California last holiday season. NuVision branches in LosAngeles and Orange Counties once again served as collection sitesfor the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Totsprogram. NuVision members and employees donated over 10bins of new toys to be distributed as gifts to needy children inthe community. This was the seventh year NuVision hasparticipated in the Toys for Tots program. NuVision employees alsofulfilled the holiday wish lists of a number of local militaryfamilies last holiday through Spouse2Spouse, a peer support programdesigned to enhance and empower military spouses. In addition, thisweek NuVision's Board of Directors presented checks for $2,500 eachto Project Self Sufficiency, a Huntington Beach-based program thatassists low-income, single parents in achieving economicindependence, and The California Paralyzed Veterans Association,which is dedicated to providing resources to enhance the lives ofparalyzed veterans in our community. 

Service Credit Union, Portsmouth, N.H.,partnered with the United States Marine Corps and WERZ/ClearChannel for the Toys for Tots 10th annual stuff-a-bus eventrecently at the Fox Run Mall in Newington. As the title sponsor,Service Credit Union delivered $3,000 worth of unwrapped toys onbehalf of the credit union during the three-day event. Plus, thecredit union held a Toys for Tots campaign at each of its NewHampshire branches, which collected $7,000 worth of toys.

 Service Credit Union, Portsmouth,N.H., helped feed thousands for the holiday season. BarbaraRoberge, Service Credit Union board of directors chair, presented acheck for $15,000 to N.H. Food Bank Executive Director MelanieGosselin to help keep the shelves well stocked. Service CreditUnion has made a donation to the food bank for seven straight yearsto assist the agency during its critical times of need. Thecontribution could not have come at better time as New HampshireFood Bank officials describe this year's demand for food as one ofmost severe in years. In addition to the monetary donation, ServiceCredit Union delivered nonperishable items weighing close to 1,500pounds that were collected during the credit union's food forfamilies canned food drive. 

Southern Tier Credit Union Alliance,Binghamton, N.Y., donated pet food and supplies to the BroomeCounty Humane Society. Donations were collected at the alliance'sannual holiday dinner. The donations were made in memory of JackHouseknecht, a senior executive of Visions Federal Credit Union,who passed away Oct. 2, 2012. The Southern Tier Credit UnionAlliance is composed of Chen-Del-O FCU, Empower FCU, GHS FCU,Horizons FCU, SEFCU, Sidney FCU, UHS Employees FCU and VisionsFCU.