A bad economy is a great time to remind consumers how rewarding it can be to give-even if it's only $10.
On March 25, Summit Credit Union will kick off the Pay It Forward program, where locals will be given $10 with just one request: to help someone else with it.
"This initiative empowers members and nonmembers to do more by having an impact on someone else's well being. People helping people-it's the credit union philosophy," said Summit CU Senior Vice President Marketing Rebecca Gerothanas. "In this challenging time, we're happy to be able to help in some small way, and tap into the generosity of Summit's membership and the community."
Pay It Forward events will be held at Summit CU's 20 branch locations and plans are underway to videotape some 100 consumers describing what they will do to help someone else with their $10. Participants will then be able to share their videos, which will be posted on Summit's Web site (www.summitcreditunion.com) with the community, who will be able to rate their favorite video response over a select period of time. The respondent with the highest rating will receive $500 and Summit will donate $500 to the winner's United Way charity of choice.
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SEC to Get 13% Budget Increase

The Securities and Exchange Commission is encouraged by the 13% increase to its budget as proposed by President Barack Obama.
The commission's proposed budget would be 13% higher than its 2008 budget of $906 million. The 2009 budget, proposed by the Bush administration last fall, sought to increase the SEC's budget by 1% to nearly $914 million. That fiscal year budget has yet to be finalized by Congress.
"The president's requested budget increase for the SEC would enable us to increase our staff and use new technology to pursue risk-based approaches that would better detect fraud and ensure stronger oversight of the nation's securities markets," said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro. "We appreciate these additional resources that would help strengthen and reinvigorate the SEC and rededicate our commitment to the protection of investors."
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