HarborOne Credit Union, Brockton, Mass., recently donated cookies to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the CU's employees, Jane Gosby, presented the idea to the credit union after she participated in a similar event with her church group. The credit union copied the idea and had employees purchase cookies of all sorts and bring them to the CU's headquarters. The results were great and the CU filled 40 boxes with cookies to be shipped overseas.

Public Service Credit Union, Romulus, Mich., recently awarded the first of fourteen $1,000 higher education scholarships at the annual Romulus High School Honors Banquet. The recipient was Theresa Windom a senior with a 3.72 GPA and who has already been accepted to the University of Detroit Mercy Nursing Program. Students were required to submit an essay about their college plans and why they deserved to receive the $1,000 scholarship. They also were required to submit a recommendation, school transcripts and have a GPA above a 2.5. The scholarship committee also took into consideration extracurricular activities and volunteer service.

MidSouth Federal Credit Union, Macon, Ga., recently held its annual Member Appreciation Day at all six of their locations. Each year MidSouth hosts Member Appreciation Day as a way of saying "Thank You" to its members for their continued support. The first 100 members at each office received a special gift, and members were able to enjoy popcorn, candy, and a chance to win a gift basket. MidSouth member Thejuana Schofield was one of five lucky winners that took home a gift basket.

Kennedy Space Center Federal Credit Union, Merritt Island, Fla., recently put together employee teams to walk and raise money for two fundraising walks. More than 20 employees formed a team for the Brevard County Juvenile Diabetes Walk. They joined more than a thousand other volunteers who walked three miles along beautiful Cocoa Beach on a cold windy morning. The KSC Federal Credit Union team raised more than $4,003 for JDRF. On the same weekend, 30 other KSC Federal Credit Union employees teamed up to walk for 18 hours and raised money to benefit Relay For Life for the American Cancer Society. The team raised more than $5,000 to help fight cancer. Fundraising included sales of die-cut JDRF sneakers along with American Cancer Society suns and moons at all 11 KSCFCU branches, on-site event fundraising, and through personal fundraising efforts. It also included a "Jail the Manager" morning in which employees paid to keep Vice President Margie Mitchell locked up in a makeshift jail in their main branch. This resulted in $500 raised in just three hours.

DuPont Community Credit Union, Waynesboro, Va., recently donated $5,000 to the AMC Hospice of Shenandoah at a Silent Auction and Kick-off event to highlight the selection of Hospice as DCCU's 2007 Corporate Charity. Over $2,800 was also raised for Hospice at the event. Each year the employees of DCCU select a community charity to support both financially, and through employee volunteer activities. To highlight the Hospice of the Shenandoah employees conducted a Kick-off Silent Auction recently with baskets and items donated from each department and branch of the credit union. In addition, donations were taken for white roses to be purchased in memory of loved ones, and the roses were then donated to Hospice patients and family members. This year employees selected the Hospice of the Shenandoah, which is located in Fishersville on the campus of Augusta Medical Center. The Hospice provides care for individuals, and their family, who are terminally ill. In addition to direct patient care, volunteers help with projects at the Hospice House, or work with Camp Dragonfly to help children who are grieving the loss of someone they love.

Pueblo Government Agencies Federal Credit Union, Florence, Colo., recently received a grant for $4,461 from the Credit Union Foundation of Colorado and Wyoming to promote financial literacy in Fremont and Pueblo counties. The Credit Union Foundation awarded a grant from Colorado's Community Investment Fund (CIF) to support the credit union's activities of providing financial education to the public. CIF is comprised of credit unions in Colorado that have chosen to invest in their community by pooling funds together and making them available as grants from the National Credit Union Foundation and state foundations, such as the Credit Union Foundation of Colorado and Wyoming. Those funds are then distributed to nonprofit, charitable organizations and credit unions serving the underserved and disadvantaged in the community. This grant provides the initial funding so that the credit union, in partnership with other community-based organizations, can provide a series of seminars designed to educate consumers about a variety of financial issues, such as identity theft, wise use of credit, and how to budget in today's changing economic times, to name just a few topics. Bart Hall, branch manager for the credit union, will be conducting these free seminars with the help of community partners Penrose Community Library, Royal Gorge Association of Realtors, Florence Citizen, Carl's Jr. and others. These seminars cover subjects such as Building a Strong Credit History; Identity Theft; Wise Use of Credit Cards; Teaching your Pre-School through 8th Grade Student the Value of a Dollar; Home Buyer Education; Getting the Best Car Deal and others.

Afena Federal Credit Union and Marion School Employees Credit Union, both based in Marion, Ind., recently joined together to conduct a month-long series of "CARD" (Career Awareness and Reflective Discovery) Sort programs for middle school students in 17 different Grant County classrooms. The CARD Sort program involved 427 sixth and seventh graders at Swayzee Elementary, Matthews Elementary, Park Elementary, RJ Basket, and St. Paul's Catholic School, in a game to help them discover and consider many different career options so they can begin to make connections with careers that they may be interested in pursuing. Students received a deck of Career Cards along with the instructions to go through the entire deck and separate them into three categories: "Look Interesting To Me," "Don't Look Interesting To Me," or "Aren't Sure About." Then, after reading the job information on the back of each card, they put the "Undecided" cards in one of the other stacks. The process continues until each student ended up with a group of Career Interest Groups to consider further and discuss with the CARD Sort Volunteer and their teachers, as well as their fellow students.