DONATIONS

Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union, Clinton Township, Mich., announced the winners of its Rudolph Heino and Sallylou Cloyd scholarship awards. The six students chosen to receive the one-time scholarship clearly demonstrate a desire to overcome obstacles, dedicate themselves to worthy causes and commit themselves to higher learning. Among the winners of the scholarships, there are youth who have faced adversity, traveled the world and have overcome overwhelming hardships to serve their communities and persevere toward their educational goals. The recipients of the scholarships are: Christine Belzyt, Megan Collier, Megan Coppiellie, Katelyn Monroe, Marisa Sochacki and Alaina Stempowski. The winners will be honored at a luncheon. Hershey Federal Credit Union, Hershey, Pa., recently donated $2,000 to the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Pennsylvania Chapter. The donation came from several special fundraising events held during 2005, and at the Hershey FCU 1st annual golf tournament. The fundraising efforts were part of the “HFCU Cares” program that is supported by HFCU employees as a way to contribute to and participate in the Central Pennsylvania community. The Greater Pennsylvania Chapter provides a comprehensive range of essential programs and services to Pennsylvanians with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their caregivers. Wauna Federal Credit Union’s St Helens branch, Clatskanie, Ore., collected donations of paper products for the St Helens Senior Center during the month of March 2006. To create a generous feeling among the public, Paulett Cacucciolo, branch manager, offered a $100 drawing at the same time. The St Helens Senior Center received a huge response with over 40 packages of paper products from the donation drive. Dawn Johnson of Scappoose was the winner of the drawing. The Connecticut Credit Union Charitable Foundation, Wallingford Conn., presented $10,000 to Operation Fuel, Inc.’s special Warm Thy Neighbor effort, a Connecticut fuel-assistance program aimed at providing funds for fuel to working poor families who do not qualify for standard government assistance. Funds are paid directly to fuel suppliers on behalf of client families. In October 2005, the Charitable Foundation also donated $15,000 to the program. The Rome, Griffiss and Commercial Drive branches of AmeriCU, Utica/Rome, N.Y., raised a total of $916 for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowl-For-Kids-Sake. The New Hartford team bowled on March 19 at Pin-A-Rama with four teams and they raised $700. The Rome team bowled on April 2 at Kin Pin Lanes with two teams and they raised $216. AmeriCU has participated in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowl-For-Kids-Sake for the past seven years and is just one of many community events that the credit union sponsors and employees are encouraged to participate in. In other donation news, the same three branches also raised $3,106.89 for the American Heart Association through Heart Sales. Top “Heart” sellers were Vanessa Johnson at Commercial Drive, Tina Thompson at Griffiss, and Charlene Reed at Rome. Gesa Credit Union, Richland, Wash., recently contributed donations totaling over $830 to Junior Achievement of the Greater Tri-Cities. Fourteen employees raised money for their annual fundraising event, Mardi Gras Bowl, by selling jean coupons to staff, holding a bake sale and through individual donations. Gesa also donated items for the event’s prize table. As an added bonus, Gesa’s bowling teams won first place in their bowling group for the costume contest for their “Mardi Gras from the 80s” theme. Credit Unions for Kids, Vancouver, Wash. and San Dimas, Calif., held its Fifth Annual Credit Unions for Kids Wine Auction in Portland, Ore. recently. Organizers of the event recently announced that they had raised $133,000. The auction, held at the Benson Hotel, drew 130 attendees and raised funds for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, which is part of the Children’s Miracle Network. Not only did the event include five wines from Northwest and California wineries, but music and dancing by the Rose City Kings, one of Portland’s most popular blues bands. Amavi Cellars from Walla Walla, Wash., donated specially bottled wine for the event, which included the original oil painting used on the label. The painting named, “Harvest for the Kids” was painted especially for the event by Northwest artist, Jeffrey Hill. EECU, Fort Worth, Texas, awarded four high school seniors $20,000 in scholarships. Each student will receive $5,000 towards his or her college education. To honor those in the field of education, on which the CU was originally chartered, two of the students chosen will pursue a degree in the field of education and to represent EECU’s community involvement, the other two students will be pursuing a degree in a field other than education. This year’s recipients are: Kathleen Schniebs, Paige Leis, Matt Williams, and Blaine Scharnhorst. Digital Federal Credit Union, Marlborough, Mass., donated $5,000 to the Worcester County Food Bank on March 24 at the DCU Headquarters. The Worcester County Food Bank is a nonprofit organization devoted to providing relief from hunger to friends and neighbors in Central Massachusetts. The Food Bank has collected and distributed more than 50 million pounds of food and grocery product to feed hungry people of all ages throughout 60 communities in Central Massachusetts. The New Mexico Credit Union Education Foundation, Albuquerque, N.M., awarded a total of $46,200 in scholarships this year to 77 students in New Mexico. Applications from more than 400 students were received and each winner received $600. Funds for the scholarships are provided by Credit Union Association of New Mexico member credit unions that turn over funds from dormant accounts to NMCUEF to be used for scholarships, instead of the state. CUANM administrates the scholarships. Through its 2005 Credit Unions for Kids Fundraising Campaign, the Spokane Chapter of Credit Unions, Spokane, Wash., raised a total of $107,078 and a total of $604,678 since 1996. Every credit union involved did an outstanding job raising money, but Numerica Credit Union topped the list for the award of most overall funds raised and United Health Services Credit Union achieved the award for the greatest amount raised per member. Through the organization’s incredible efforts, they made a substantial contribution to local area children’s hospitals and in turn, benefit the entire Children’s Miracle Network. Ent Federal Credit Union, Colorado Springs, Colo., has awarded 10 local organizations its Youth Endowment Series program grants for 2006. The recipients are: Air Services Museum; Court Appointed Special Advocates of the Pikes Peak Region; Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Colorado; Workout, Limited; Salvation Army; Women’s Resource Agency; YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region; Big Brothers/Big Sisters; Child Care Connections; and Special Kids/Special Families. Introduced in 2000, the YES program directs specific support to organizations benefiting children and young people in the Pikes Peak Region. The program has provided total grants of nearly $225,000 to agencies serving education, health care and cultural needs, among other services. Thirty-eight local nonprofit organizations applied for the grants and applications were evaluated on their general benefit to the community, potential ability to use the Ent grant to obtain additional funds and degree of current community support, among other criteria. Firstmark Credit Union, San Antonio, awarded the Frank Price Cunningham & Helen Shipman Cunningham Scholarships to local area high schools seniors at the CU’s annual meeting. Each year the CU awards 10, $1,000 scholarships. This year’s winners were: Christopher Check, Samantha Amador, Leonard Navarro II, Sarah Friend, Mary Groff, Amanda Martinez, Erica Solis, Barry Reyna, Cecily Martinez and Travis Campbell. Raritan Bay Federal Credit Union, Sayreville, N.J., awarded an outstanding local high school student a $500 scholarship on behalf of the Marion Lindson Memoriam Scholarship Fund. Shannon Cohoon, an upcoming graduate of South Amboy High School, was given the scholarship this year. John T. Lindson has been awarding this scholarship every year since 2000, in loving memory of his late wife, Marion. His desire is that the scholarship be given to an all-around, worthy South Amboy High School senior each spring. Centra Credit Union, Columbus, Ind., awarded $3,000 in college scholarships to Centra members at its annual meeting. Two high school students and a returning adult student each won $1,000 scholarships to the college or university of their choice. Cara Parks, Bradley M. Gibson and Terry Williams were the scholarship recipients for 2006. Financial Partners Credit Union, Downey, Calif., hosted local students and their parents for a special orientation on the re-launch of the Downey Family YMCA Youth & Government program. In addition, Financial Partners contributed $2,500 in seed money to help fund administrative support as well as assist families unable to afford registration costs. Youth & Government is run statewide with over 2,200 students and 250 volunteers at approximately 80 locations. During a nine-month period, the teen “delegates” write bills, select governmental positions to role-play, attend statewide training conferences, and run for elected offices. The program reaches its peak in Sacramento at the State Capitol with the convening of the five-day Model Legislature and Court each Feb. The Central Ohio Chapter of Credit Unions, Ohio, recently selected Kathrine Smith to receive a scholarship. Kathrine was chosen from hundreds of entries from across Central Ohio to receive the $1,000 scholarship. She is a member of Fiberglas Federal Credit Union and plans to attend Ohio State University’s main campus in the fall to pursue a degree in pharmacy, education or business. Coosa Valley Federal Credit Union, Rome, Ga., made its latest donation of $10,051.93 to the Coosa Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. The funds were raised through a number of different events held by CU staff: silent auctions, bake sales, a community yard sale, Easter basket sales and stuffed animal sales. Over the last six years, the CU has raised over $34,000 for the Red Cross. Hughes Federal Credit Union, Tucson, Ariz., recently announced the winners of its First Annual Scholarship Award during its annual meeting. The scholarship was established to encourage high school seniors who were interested in advancing their education, showed scholastic excellence and participated in community service. The awards were $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second and $500 for third. Andrew Whiteside won first, Chelsea Michelson won second and Caitlin Simonson took third. More than 2,000 students, teachers, parents, volunteers and other community leaders participated in the Goldenwest Credit Union Annual 5K Run-Walk-Crawl, Ogden, Utah, to help raise funds for seven local schools. One hundred percent of the registration fees were donated to the participating schools and Goldenwest matched that amount, bringing the total donations to more than $35,000. The schools use the 5K funds to support student programs such as athletics and cultural events and to purchase library materials, playground equipment and much more. This is the CU’s sixth consecutive race. Apple Federal Credit Union, Fairfax, Va., in support of the Northern Virginia education community, as well as the ecological well being of all area residents, has donated 31 trees in honor of Arbor Day to Robert E. Lee High School. Twenty-one Colorado Blue Spruce and 10 Redbuds, each tree species recommended for Northern Virginia by The National Arbor Day Foundation, were presented to school officials for educational use and later planting on school grounds. Meant as a totem for the growth of Apple FCU, the saplings were cared for over many weeks by departments within the CU. To encourage summer reading as a top priority, MIDFLORIDA Federal Credit Union, Lakeland, Fla., has initiated its “Gift of Reading” program. The program will mobilize more than 100 volunteers to more than 100 schools in five central Florida counties to read to 12,000 kindergarten students. At the conclusion of the reading, each student will receive their own hardback copy of the book. The book Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive written by Karma Wilson was selected for the readings.