During the past few years, credit unions such as the $62 million, 10,200-member Healthcare Systems FCU in Falls Church, Va., and the $257 million, 22,000-member Dominion CU in Richmond, Va., have participated in team-building events to support CU Helping Hands, a charitable program launched by the CU Philanthropy Group to assist amputees in war-torn countries.

Through the program, executives and staff at about 20 credit unions have assembled more than 180 prosthetic hands, which have been distributed through Afghanistan's Islamic Investment and Finance Cooperatives to victims of land mines and other atrocities of war, said Frank Hackney, founder of CU Philanthropy Group, a nonprofit organization, and The Conference Group LLC, a consultancy firm in Washington, D.C.

Hackney incorporates the prosthetic assembly program into staff development events he organizes for credit unions. During the team-building sessions, credit union directors, executives and staffers assemble prosthetic hands, test them for functionality and decorate delivery bags, which include a picture of the three-person assembly team.