Olin Community Credit Union, Bethalto, Ill., donated a total of $7,400 to four local organizations. The credit union presented a $2,300 check to each of these organizations: the Community Hope Center in Cottage Hills, the Boys and Girls Club of Alton, and the Boys and Girls Club of Bethalto. An additional $500 was donated to the emergency room fund at the local Jersey Community Hospital. The donations were the result of proceeds collected during the credit union's annual skip-a-payment program.

Connex Credit Union, Hamden, Conn., donated $800.37 to Hamden Hall Country Day School, a co-educational college-preparatory independent day school for children in pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. The money for the donation came from fees collected by a coin-counting machine in the Connex Hamden branch during the fourth quarter of 2008. The donation will help Hamden Hall support costs associated with academics, athletics, the arts and more.

GCS Federal Credit Union, Granite City, Ill., announced that its employees raised $1,640 for the March of Dimes. Employees of GCS can opt to participate in jean months throughout the year during which they donate a specified amount to a selected charity in return for the ability to wear jeans on Fridays and Saturdays all month long. GCS also sponsored family areas at two March of Dimes March for Babies walks this year. Money raised during the walks is used to fund research and community programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies.

TruMark Financial Credit Union, Trevose, Pa., raised $755 to support the Fraternal Order of Police survivor's fund, which has been stretched to its limit with five Philadelphia police officers killed in the line of duty in the past year. The fund covers about $40,000 in funeral costs for each officer's funeral. TruMark Financial raised its donation by giving employees the option to wear jeans on a certain Friday.

Electro Savings Credit Union, St. Louis, is supporting Homes for Our Troops through a variety of programs. The credit union is building model houses in its lobbies by selling paper bricks to members for $1 each. Electro Savings is also holding a weight loss challenge; 18 employees and their family members are gathering sponsors to donate for every pound they lose. The credit union is also allowing its debit and credit card users to turn in their reward points as donations. HFOT is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that assists severely injured servicemen and women and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and then coordinating the process of building a new home or adapting an existing home for handicapped accessibility.

Apple Federal Credit Union, Fairfax, Va., donated a grant of $10,000 to the nonprofit Loudoun Education Foundation to help fund the group's teacher grant program. The Apple FCU grant was made through the credit union's education foundation. Since 1991, more than $100,000 in grants has been funded through LEF. Established in 2006, the Apple FCU Education Foundation seeks to support the continuation of quality education in Northern Virginia.

Virginia Credit Union, Richmond, Va., contributed funds, energy, and time to help out the residents of the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veteran's Medical Center. A community outreach committee of the credit union's employees visited residents, purchased gifts, and contributed furniture to renovate two recreational rooms for residents of the hospital's community life center. The credit union also arranged for a local artist to paint floor-to-ceiling murals in the rooms that brought scenes of nature indoors.