GREENSBORO, N.C. — CUNA's "Little Guy" ad campaign is finding some running legs, so to speak, in North Carolina with CU employee/members taking part in a special fundraising project–a grueling long-distance race this September across two states.
The running event is called the Blue Ridge Relay Race, a 208-mile continuous run through the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia, and the 12-member CU employee group is called "Team
Little Guy."
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"What better way to promote credit unions than to field a team of those who work on behalf of credit unions for this very rigorous race and call it 'Team Little Guy,'" explained Eric Gelly, executive vice president of the North Carolina Credit Union League, sponsor of the "Team Little Guy" project.
Complete with a blog and Website, http://teamlittleguy.wordpress.com/, the league, since its June annual convention, has been drumming up contributions from North Carolina CUs with the funds being directed to charities in North and South Carolina through the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation.
Underscoring the interest in racing and fitness, Gelly, an enthusiastic runner himself and "Team Little Guy" captain, said that in less than two weeks the "Little Guy" Web site has drawn an extraordinary 1,100 hits, apparently from CU runners across the U.S. interested in the event.
"The problem is under the rules the team is full but we hope that maybe next year we can get credit union teams from across the South and elsewhere to sponsor runners and put up the credit union banner using the 'Little Guy,'" said Gelly.
CUNA's Little Guy advocacy commercials have been airing for weeks on Capitol Hill in Washington promoting the CU/bank difference to lawmakers and most recently have spread to other states as well. CUNA also has started promoting a "Little Guy" Web site, cartoon ads, life-size cut outs for picture posing and online movies.
Gelly, who runs five miles a day and competes in runs across the state, will be joined on the Blue Ridge course by John Radebaugh, president/CEO of the league, his son, John Jr. as well as a contingent of CU employees, members and league staffers.
The Sept. 7-8 race is classified as "extreme" because runners have to scale 27,000-foot elevations through the mountains and complete the course in 30 hours. The Blue Ridge Relay stretches from Grayson Highlands State Park at Volney, Va. to downtown Asheville, N.C.
It is one of the longest running relay races in the U.S. with the 12 person teams rotating through 36 transition areas. Each relay team member runs three legs of varying lengths and difficulty and covers an average distance of
16.6 miles.
Funds raised from the event will be contributed to the Micro Community Grants program run by the foundation, said the league.
The fundraising project was kicked off with a $5,000 contribution from Charlotte Metro Credit Union committing to a "Premier Level Sponsorship." Also joining in with a sponsorship was Local Government Credit Union of Raleigh.
The league said the "Team Little Guy" blog will
be the vehicle for CU employees on the team and others to "share their experience with friends, family, sponsors or anyone else who is interested."
The blog also "reinforces the fact that credit unions care about the communities in which
they operate."
Other League staffers on the team include: Dan Schline, senior vice president of association
services; Richard Ford, director of business development; and Ed Agnoli, director of education and
financial literacy.
Still others in the group include: Tom Heyden, account executive at CUNA Mutual; Austin Braithwait, senior vice president at US Central in Lenexa, Kan.; and Esteve Coll-Larossa, business development/marketing manager at United Services CU in Asheville, N.C.
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