Navy Federal Credit Union's St. Marys branch, Vienna, Va., conducted its second annual fashion show fund-raiser to benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. More than 100 people were in attendance at the event, which raised $730. Local merchants provided clothing and accessories that were modeled by members of the Camden County High School Homecoming Court, cancer survivors and Navy Federal employees and family members. Raffle items were sold at the event including a four-hour spa package, a one-night stay at a local Goodbread Bed & Breakfast and a gift certificate to the Madhatter Tea Room. During the opening ceremonies for its new branch, Sandia Area Federal Credit Union, Albuquerque, N.M., presented $2,500 to University of New Mexico Children's Hospital. The current facility is too small and outdated so the hospital is undergoing a major construction project that will provide more space for services for the children of New Mexico. Currently the hospital treats more than 57,000 children every year. Unity One Federal Credit Union, Fort Worth, Texas, awarded t-shirts and bicycles to students who had perfect attendance for the fourth six-week term at Gililland Elementary School. The CU's mascot was there to join in the festivities and awarded 180 students with t-shirts and six with bicycles. Gililland Elementary and Unity One have been partnering together since November 2005, and plan to continue to work together to promote perfect attendance. Incentives provided by Unity One for the upcoming six-week term include a skating party, an end of year cookout and many more visits from Max-a-Million. The Golden 1 Credit Union, Sacramento, Calif., established the Hurricane Katrina "Sponsor a Family" Program to aid a family of four from Harvey, Louisiana who was displaced by the catastrophe. In November 2005, the CU donated $61,488 to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army for Gulf Coast hurricane relief, but The Golden 1's staff expressed interest in personally assisting people affected by the disaster. This prompted the CU to adopt a family of a credit union employee, the Shelton family, from one of the hardest hit areas. Syderia Shelton is a Louisiana Federal Credit Union employee who has a husband and two daughters, ages 3 and 11. The Shelton family receives a monthly check from The Golden 1's Hurricane Katrina "Sponsor a Family" Program. Currently the program has 39 participants each pledging $20 a month for six months. So far, the CU has collected more than $4,500. Insight Financial, Orlando, Fla., and the Paul H. Higgs family, awarded four $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors. The applicants for this year's Paul H. Higgs scholarships were required to write an essay focusing on the credit union philosophy and what it means for their generation. The four winners were: Caitlin Fogarty, Alexander King, Angela Lauren, and Lynsey Williamson. Insight Financial's board of directors created the Paul H. Higgs Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor Paul H. Higgs, former chairman and active board member for more than 28 years. Clearview Federal Credit Union, Moon Township, Penn., participated in a Central Blood Bank blood drive in honor of Stephanie Wolfe, a local six year old who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She will need numerous transfusions of blood and blood products during the next several months because of the aggressive chemotherapy she will receive. Employees of Clearview's main branch office donated 34 units of blood. The Central Blood Bank holds four blood drives a year at Clearview FCU. Sixteen employees of Mazuma Credit Union, Kansas City, Mo., participated in the Mix for Kids Radiothon, which raised more than $538,400 for Children's Miracle Network and Kansas City hospitals. The employees answered phones and took donations for Mix 93.3 (KMXV), which sponsored and broadcast the three-day event. The radiothon is in its eighth year and is the largest annual fund-raising event in Kansas City to support Children's Miracle Network. Employees of Credit Union of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, wore red to show their support and raise funds for the American Heart Association. In order to participate, employees paid $5 to wear red and dress down the entire week in jeans. A pizza party was also held if there was 100% participation from staff; so of course, the employees enjoyed some pizza. The credit union also placed jars at the teller windows to expand participation to members. A total of $333.77 was raised. Pacific Service Credit Union, Walnut Creek, Calif., is a corporate sponsor of the American Red Cross CPR Preparedness seminar. Free CPR training and important lifesaving skills will be provided to registered participants at various locations throughout Fresno and Madera. 2006, is the fifth year that Pacific Service CU has sponsored the CPR seminar in the Fresno-Madera community. Throughout 2005, staff and members of E1 Financial Credit Union, Monterey Park, Calif., opened their hearts and wallets to those in need and donated their time and more than $30,000 to various charities and organizations. Donations went to help the victims of disasters such as the 2004 Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. During Thanksgiving, staff and members donated over four barrels of canned goods and nonperishable food for the Salvation Army Holiday Food Drive. The CU donated new computers and software to Hillcrest Elementary School, after hearing that it had been vandalized. In December, CU staff personally purchased toys and clothing for La Azteca preschool students, contributing to what, for many of the children, was their main Christmas celebration. These are just some of the community events and fund-raisers that the CU, its staff and members contributed to in 2005. E1 Financial looks forward to continuing strong community and charity involvement in 2006. The Scholarship Committee of the City of Boston Credit Union, Boston, awarded 15 $1,000 scholarships. The scholarships are in honor of the late Thomas P. Coyne, a former CBCU manager, and can be used toward grade school, high school or college tuitions for the 2006/2007 school years. The Scholarship Committee has been offering these scholarships to CBCU members, their children, grandchildren and spouses for the past seven years. The recipients are chosen by a random drawing of applications completed by members. Robins Federal Credit Union, Warner Robins, Ga., donated $12,000 to the Children's Miracle Network, an organization whose fund-raising efforts benefit The Children's Hospital in Macon. Funds were raised through the sale of paper hearts for $1.00 each at all of the CU's locations, a Bowl-a-Thon, and a corporate donation. Associates of Members 1st Federal Credit Union, Mechanicsburg, Pa., purchased daffodils to help fund cancer research for the American Cancer Society, and raised $1,241. And running April 23-29, the CU will be celebrating National Credit Union Youth Week. Each youth member will have the opportunity to take a quiz regarding personal finance on the CU's Web site, www.members1st.org. Quizzes will be broken into three specific categories ranging from ages 5-19. One winner per age group who answers all questions correctly will win an Apple iPod Nano and will have their name published on the CU's Web site. In addition, all youth club members that visit a Members 1st branch throughout the week and make a deposit will receive a free gift. During this year's "Light Up A Life" campaign, AmeriCU Credit Union, Utica/Rome, N.Y., donated more than $6,000 for Hospice and Palliative Care. The fund-raising event featured holiday trees staffed by hundreds of volunteers, who accepted donations from individuals who wished to place an ornament on the tree to memorialize or honor their loved ones. AmeriCU has been a sponsor of Hospice for nearly 15 years. In other donation news, the CU was also the presenting sponsor for the Heart Walk, which is the American Heart Association's largest fund-raising event in Central New York. The top fund-raiser this year was Sonya Ezell, a CU employee. She raised $17,468 in individual donations in her 12th year of participating, and her second year as top fundraiser. She far exceeded her personal goal of $15,000. As a team, the CU raised over $24,000. America's Greatest Heart Walk included a total of 7,803 walkers and runners and raised over $1,115,427. In an effort to help the hungry, Hopewell Federal Credit Union, Heath, Ohio, donated food and money to Licking County's annual Operation Feed food collection drive. The effort for Hopewell was led by Amy Baker, teller. Baker's efforts resulted in $2,368.65 being raised. Point West Credit Union, Portland, Ore., recently upgraded many of its computers as part of a data processing change and sought a new home for the relatively new model computers being replaced. The new home was found in Sandy Vista, a 54-unit farm-worker housing complex, where high school aged students will use the computers in the community center. Sandy Vista provides education seminars as well as a location to study and meet with tutors, so the new computers will be useful. The Blue Water Chapter of Credit Unions, Port Huron, Mich., has donated $2,500 to community charities. The participating credit unions in the chapter include: Belle River Community Credit Union, Blue Water Federal Credit Union, E&A Credit Union, Flagship Federal Credit Union and MPG Credit Union. The chapter raised funds throughout the year for local charities and community scholarships. Donations were made in $500 increments to the St. Clair County Economic Opportunity Committee's Walk for Warmth, the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, the Samaritan House, the March of Dimes and the Richmond Lions Club. As area high school seniors prepare for graduation ceremonies, Hubert Hoosman, Jr., president/CEO of Vantage Credit Union, St. Louis, along with members of the Vantage Senior Team, are preparing to visit area high schools to award 25 seniors a combined $25,000 in scholarships. Each winner of a 2006 "Quest For Education" scholarship was chosen based on a combination of student-written essays; appropriate honors and awards; participation in extra curricular, community and volunteer activities; employment; recommendation letters; and credit union membership. The CU raised a portion of the scholarship funds through an annual golf tournament. In the past 23 years, Vantage has awarded over $375,000 in scholarships to area high school seniors. Group Health Credit Union, Seattle, collected nearly 5,000 Crayola crayons for Operation Crayon at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. Additionally, a donation of $500 was made for the use of purchasing additional crayons when needed. GHCU's donation was the result of a Super Bowl challenge with Pittsburgh's PA Health Care Credit Union. Originally, the agreement was for the defeated city to send the winning city numerous local items, but when the Seahawks lost PAHCCU decided to forgo the Seattle goods and requested GHCU make a donation to Operation Crayon. Staff and members of the eight branches of Great Wisconsin Credit Union, Madison, Wis., donated $4,500 to the Children's Miracle Network. The funds are used for medical expenses for children in need. The CU donates to the fund annually. Southern Select Community Credit Union, Kannapolis, N.C., has announced that it will award a $500 scholarship to a deserving high school senior entering an accredited two-year or four-year college, university or vocational/technical school during the 2006-2007 academic year. The scholarship will be presented to a member of the credit union and its community based on academic excellence, grade point average, leadership ability, personal character and need. Applications and information packets were mailed to schools on March 20 and are also available from a member services representative. The applications are due no later than April 28, 2006 and will be judged by a panel of business professionals unaffiliated with Southern Select and from outside the community field of membership.