NEW YORK — Rita Haynes, immediate past chairman of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions and a long time leader among community development credit unions, has been recognized as one of the “hardest working” by an nationwide ABC radio program.

The Federation announced that ABC's Tom Joyner Morning Show recognized Haynes with the award that includes a cash prize of $1,000 for her work with CDCUs generally and with the $10 million Faith Community United, where she is CEO, in particular.

“There are few people in the credit union movement who contributed their volunteer labor for so many decades, leading the way for a small, one-church, faith-based African-American institution to expand to serve several churches, and subsequently, to expand to an entire neighborhood of Cleveland,” commended Federation Executive Director Clifford N. Rosenthal. “Her work in obtaining a donated bank branch to better serve her community is a national model for community development credit unions across the country.”

Haynes served as chairman of the Federation's Board of Directors from 2001-2006, and continues to be involved with the Board of Directors through her work on the Federation's Faith-based Credit Union Task Force.