AWARDS CEFCU, Peoria, Ill., was awarded the Small Business of the Year award and the Distinguished Business of the Year award from the East Peoria, Illinois Chamber of Commerce at the Chamber's recent annual awards banquet. The awards recognized CEFCU's ongoing efforts to provide the financial support needed to assist prospective and existing business owners as they try to locate or expand their businesses and for the CU's ongoing support of Chamber activities and events, community involvement and progressive business activity. BRANCHING OUT Hershey Federal Credit Union, Hershey, Pa., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the CU's new headquarters, as well as a full-service branch. The new building is scheduled to be completed by mid-summer and will provide a convenient and much needed, third branch for the HFCU membership. In other news, the CU also recently donated $7,000 to Nancy Fierer, director of the Susquehanna Service Dogs. The donation came from several special fundraising events held during 2006, including HFCU's 2nd 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. Money One Federal Credit Union, Largo, Md., held the grand opening celebration of its new location with a ribbon cutting ceremony recently. The new innovative 17,000 square-foot building was designed to provide added convenience and better service to its members. Enhancements include drive-up windows, expanding member parking, enhanced member privacy and safe deposit boxes. MOFCU also plans to extend hours. The building was dedicated to Frank Newcomer, MOFCU's longtime board of director who passed away in Dec. 2006. First Community Credit Union, Chesterfield, Mo., recently held the grand opening celebration for its newest branch located in Washington, Mo. The new branch is located inside the new Super Wal-Mart. Throughout its grand opening week, members and residents of Washington who opened an account were able to take advantage of special offers, prizes and giveaways. The CU also arranged for members of the Washington Police Department to be on hand to create free child fingerprint ID cards. Veridan Credit Union, Waterloo, Iowa, will open a new branch office in the existing Hy-Vee store located in Cedar Rapids. Veridian's new addition will occupy the are which will be vacated by Bank of the West. The new office will be Veridian's fifth in the Cedar Rapids area. Veridian's new Hy-Vee location is a full-service branch offering deposit and new account services, auto loans, and consumer loans, and is open seven days a week. Synergy One Federal Credit Union, Manassas, Va., recently celebrated the grand opening of its newest branch on Chatsworth Drive. As part of the celebration, James Legat, a Heltzel-Synergry One Mortgage Company customer, won a $1,500 four day/three night vacation trip package. DONATIONS Northwest Federal Credit Union, Herndon, Va., recently held both its annual Food Drive and Toys for Kids Drive. The two charitable drives took place at the CU's Herndon, Chantilly and Vienna branches. More than 200 new toys and books were collected as well as a record 432 pounds of groceries. Reston Interfaith organized the food drive and distributed the donated food, which help feed those families in need and stock the local food banks. The toys were donated to Northern Virginia Family Service for distribution to the community's less fortunate children, ranging in age from infant to 18-years old. Credit Union of Texas, Dallas, donated $8,982 to the Children's Miracle Network. CMN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to generating funds and awareness programs for children served by its many affiliated hospitals. The donation was the result of Credit Union of Texas member and employee contributions through the sale of Entertainment Passbooks. This year's contribution will benefit Children's Hospital in Dallas. Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va., donated more than 18,000 toys as a corporate sponsor for the ninth year to the Toys for Tots Campaign. In addition, generous members and employees donated over $4,650 to the Toys for Tots Foundation. The Navy Federal branch in Singapore showed its support with a Chili Cook-Off where military and civilian personnel of Navy Region Singapore brought toy donations to accompany their spiciest and most original chili dishes. Another branch in Okinawa held a raffle of an authentic Thai wooden bench that was donated by a local furniture store. Members were eligible for a raffle ticket by bringing in a toy donation. CDC Federal Credit Union, Atlanta, recently announced a 2006 donation of over $10,000 to Children's Miracle Network. Donations are given to programs such as cancer treatments, cardiology, neonatal care, orthopedics and transplant services to hospitals like Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The committee raised the funds by completing monthly fundraising promotions such as selling candy and raffling baseball and aquarium tickets. Internal contributions from associates averaged around 75% of the total funds raised. Of this, a large portion came directly from associates' paychecks. Veridian Credit Union, Waterloo, Iowa, recently announced the recipients of its Inclusive Community Grant. The Inclusive Community Grant is awarded to programs that celebrate and raise community awareness of traditionally excluded groups or cultures. A total of $25,000 was available through the grant. The Cedar Falls Human Rights Commission received funding to create a multimedia educational DVD to teach immigrants about their U.S. rights and about discrimination laws. Lutheran Services of Iowa received funding for its Refugee Community Center, which is a space for mentorship and active learning between refugees and community volunteers. Bright Move Network received funding for its Adult Mentoring Program. The program uses dinners, one-on-one mentoring, community connection projects and The Women of Care Project to facilitate refugee integration and cross-cultural learning. Latinos Unidos received funding for its Community Resource Fairs. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids received funding for Lunch Buddies, a school-based mentoring program that places adult mentors in schools with a high percentage of children from low-income families in an effort to improve students' self-confidence, attitudes toward school, class participation and academic performance. MaPS Credit Union, Salem, Ore., presented fourth-quarter checks totaling more than $1,100 to four local MaPS Free Community Checking account partners: Salem YWCA, Monmouth-Independence YMCA, Salem Boys and Girls Club and Habitat for Humanity of the Willamette Valley. This donation brings MaPS' yearly donations to nearly $4,000 for 2006. American Eagle Federal Credit Union, East Hartford, Conn., made a donation to upgrade the computer technology at the East Hartford Chamber of Commerce. The $2,500 donation included the purchase of two new Dell Dimension desktop personal computers with flat panel monitors and Windows XP Professional operating system. Other technology accessories were included in the donation, including software that will facilitate the management of e-mail. City of Painesville Employees Credit Union, Painesville, Ohio, established a fund to help two officers who remained on duty and helped rescue people from their homes during a recent flood, while they themselves lost everything. The two officers who went above and beyond were Painesville Police Officer Robert Sayer and Painesville Fire Department Office Chris Young. The CU's entire office staff helped collect donations from businesses, other fire departments, and individuals. The two biggest donors were Fairport VFW Post 7754 with $3,000 and the Painesville American Legion with $2,000. The fundraiser generated two, $4,000 checks, one for each officer. Oregon Community Credit Union, Eugene, Ore., donated $1,700 and practical items to First Place Family Center, a Saint Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County organization dedicated to assisting homeless families with children. By coordinating donation stations in Lane County branches and corporate offices, staff members were able to supply First Place Family Center with 200 cans of high-protein food; 50 sleeping bags; 800 diapers; 4,000 baby wipes, 65 cans of shaving cream; 45 packs of razors; and countless boxes of clothes, towels, toys and stuffed animals. The CU also hosted a lunch for eight First Place families. After the lunch, staff accompanied the families to Wal-Mart to spend $50 gift cards provided by the credit union. Connex Credit Union, East Harford, Conn., awarded $300 to the Connecticut Food Bank. CFB solicits, transports, warehouses and distributes donated food products to 650 food-assistance programs. The CT Food Bank also works with America's Second Harvest, the Nation's Food Bank, and other “End Hunger” advocacy groups. Mocse Credit Union, Modesto, Calif., recently became partners with the Children's Miracle Network, which helps raise funds for 170 affiliated children's hospitals. Our community children's hospital, UC Davis Medical Center, received a donation from the sale of Holiday stockings this year in the amount of $2,352. Members were very generous and supportive of the fundraiser, as they would purchase several stockings to show their community spirit. Altura Credit Union, Riverside, Calif., shared the spirit of giving this past Christmas by donating food and gift baskets to 13 Riverside-area families. The baskets contained general food items and the makings for a holiday meal, as well as $25 gift cards. The families had been identified by Edgemont Elementary School, where the baskets were delivered for distribution. Keys Federal Credit Union, Key West, Fla., recently contributed $1,000 to Wesley House Family Services' Annual Valentine's Day Party. The mission of Wesley House Family Services is to promote and enhance the safety, well-being and development of children by educating, supporting and meeting the needs of families. The Valentine's Day Party was held at The Curry Mansion and is a major fundraising event for the organization. First Credit Union, Chandler, Ariz., raised $20,000 in contributions to help support the Children's Miracle Network, Credit Unions for Kids, in the past year. This is a year-round program that helps raise funds, which go directly to the Phoenix Children's Hospital and the Tucson Medical Center's pediatric unit. Numerica Credit Union, Spokane, Wash., recently donated over $10,000 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Spokane. Numerica employees have coordinated the Annual Benefit Auction for the past 17 years. Donations have been given to community organizations such as The Children's Home Society, Cross Walk, and last year's event raised $8,500 for the Hutton Settlement. To families of sick children, RMH provides a “home away from home,” and a shelter close to medical facilities where parents are able to focus on what's important–their children's health. Other fundraising activities at the annual Numerica employee event included a silent auction and raffles. Most of the items donated for auction or raffle were made or donated by Numerica employees and family members. Smart Financial Credit Union, Houston, was the co-title sponsor of the Houston Press/Smart Financial Credit Union 5K for the second consecutive year. Twenty Smart Financial representatives participated in the race, and an additional 15 employees served as volunteers. This year more than 18,000 individuals participated in the event. Proceeds from the event raised close to $1,000,000 to support local charities. At the January Thaw to End Hunger Celebration Event held at the Maine Credit Union League, Westbrook, Maine, Maine's First Lady Karen Baldacci had the honor of announcing that Maine's credit unions set a new record with the 2006 Maine Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger by raising $315,419.26 to help end hunger in Maine. This was $65,000 more than last year's total. Since 1990, the Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger has raised more than $2.3 million to help end hunger in Maine. This also marks the fourth consecutive year that the campaign total has surpassed the $200,000 mark and the first time it has topped the $300,000 figure. One hundred percent of all the money goes to ending hunger and stays in Maine. MILESTONE Capital Communications Federal Credit Union, Albany, N.Y., has surpassed $500 million in assets. The CU is the second largest in the capital region based on asset size, according to The Business Review, and has more than 50,000 members. Patelco Credit Union, San Francisco, became the 10th credit union in the country to hit the $4 billion mark in assets recently. Patelco serves over 230,000 members with 37 branches throughout California and a branch in Illinois. It took the CU 59 years to reach the $1 billion mark, which it did in 1995. United Heritage Credit Union, Austin, Texas, marked 2007 with its 50th anniversary celebration. The CU began in 1957 as Military Federal Credit Union with only eight members and $40 in deposits. Look ahead 50 years and United Heritage now has 62,000 members, over $450 million in assets and eight locations with three more in the works. Champion Credit Union, Canton, N.C., recently announced that G.R. Fish, Ricky Anders and Mike Riccardi were the first winners of the weekly cash drawing for $75, representing the number of years Champion Credit Union has been in operation. Every Friday the 75 year milestone will continue to be celebrated by awarding a luck member $75.

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