Altura Credit Union, Riverside, Calif., gave approximately 450children a new backpack full of school supplies for the 2006/2007school year with a $5,000 donation recently. The donation is partof Altura's ongoing commitment to schools and education. Thedonation was made to Riverside County's “Fill a Backpack Program”which is administered by the Mental Health Department's ParentSupport/Children's Services Program. The department operates 16clinics throughout the country to help children and their families.In total, the program filled backpacks for 655 kids this schoolyear. HarborOne Credit Union, Brockton, Mass., recently awarded a$250 Stop & Shop gift card to Brad Smith. Smith was the winnerof the first in a series of drawings the CU is using as anincentive to open checking accounts and referring new members. Forany new checking account opened with either direct deposit oronline bill payment the customer will receive a $50 Stop & Shopgift card and for every referral that results in a new checkingaccount, a $25 card is awarded. In addition, HarborOne will donate$1 to the United Way for every new checking account opened duringthe campaign. They have also placed large water bottles in branchlobbies to encourage patrons and visitors to deposit their sparechange into them. Jose C. Solorzano, an employee at XCEL FederalCredit Union, Secaucus, N.J., is building his war chest. Solorzanois a member of “Team in Training”, which is organized through theLeukemia & Lymphoma Society. He will be joining over 5,000cyclists from around the world who will compete in a one-day,109-mile endurance race in Tucson, Ariz. The Teams are not racingagainst each other, but rather against the clock. This is his thirdevent with Team in Training and in 2005, Solorzano, with the helpof family, friends and co-workers, was able to raise $13,000 forthe cause. His fundraising target for this year's event is a movingone, the more he collects, the higher he moves his goal.Solorzano's motivation for this event comes from his diagnosis ofnon-Hotchkins Lymphoma in 2004. He credits his survival and goodhealth on the medical advances that have been made in this area andthe affordability of the drugs used to treat the disease. RedstoneFederal Credit Union, Huntsville, Ala., recently partnered withHabitat for Humanity of Madison County to build a home for theLangford family. A special dedication ceremony was held at theLangfords' new home upon completion of the project. The Langfords'dedicated 350 “sweat equity” hours in the project itself andRedstone volunteers began working on the project in August. This isthe first time that Redstone has partnered with Habitat. Point LomaCredit Union, San Diego, recently announced that Shane Jagtiani ofRiverside County won the grand-prize package of VIP tickets to theSkyShow at Qualcomm Stadium during the 9th Annual Student SafetyFair. Jagtiani and friends received a chauffeured limo ride to theSkyShow fireworks spectacular, as well as VIP treatment at theevent. Services Center Federal Credit Union, Yankton, S.D., isputting forth an effort to end identity theft in the community andhelping stock the local Food Pantry as well. The CU recently hosteda day of shredding in exchange for a donation of a nonperishablefood item to the Food Pantry. Two tons of paper were shredded andfour carts of groceries were donated. This semi-annual event isopen to the public and is held in the spring after tax season andin the fall after the Community Fall Clean Up. Silver State SchoolsCredit Union, Reno, Nev., recently sponsored Washoe County'sEducation Collaborative event Run for Education. The EducationCollaborative connects businesses with public schools in WashoeCounty. Silver State Schools CU was on-hand to host the rockclimbing wall for the event. Event goals were exceeded and over$185,000 was raised to support academic and fitness relatedprograms in Washoe County School District. Over 300 employees fromPatelco Credit Union, San Francisco, mobilized for a day of publicservice recently. Volunteers gathered at the Argent Hotel for akick-off celebration and afterwards employees fanned out to eightcommunity service project locations across the San Francisco BayArea. Projects included food sorting, painting fences, sprucing upparks, assembling gift baskets, beach cleanup and maintenance.Capital Communications Federal Credit Union, Albany, N.Y., alongwith its Capital Communications Cares Foundation, recently raisedmore than $41,000 to support the fight against breast cancer duringthe American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast CancerWalk. Nearly 350 people walked with the Foundation's team and 700keepsake “Percy” panda bears were given to breast cancer survivorsalong the Strides route in Albany's Washington Park. The bears,donated by the Foundation, had pink t-shirts emblazoned with thephrase, “Together we will persevere.” Memphis Area Teacher's CreditUnion, Memphis, Tenn., recently presented $500 to Patricia King, ateacher at Woodland Presbyterian School, as part of the CU's OneClass At A Time Grant. As a science teacher, King is dedicated toembracing technology to enhance her student's learning experiences.The money will be used to purchase an LCD projector. With theprojector, King will be able to integrate technology into hercurrent hands-on lab approach.