SMCU
San Mateo Credit Union President/CEO Wade Painter (left) and San Mateo County (Calif.) Supervisor Dave Pine (right) facilitate a $1,085 donation from 13-year-old philanthropist Olivia Sze (center). The $1.3 billion, Redwood City, Calif.-based SMCU recently partnered with county program San Mateo County Strong to administer grants for COVID-19 relief efforts. SMCU accepted Sze's donation to SMC Strong at the credit union's San Mateo branch, adding a $500 donation of its own. Motivated by what she witnessed daily on the news, Sze raised the money to help her community through her Hidden Treasures Fundraiser.
Point Breeze CU The $840 million, Hunt Valley, Md.-based Point Breeze Credit Union donated $15,000 to the Friends of Disabled Veterans (DAV) in Maryland's Carroll County to help fund the purchase and conversion of a van that will provide transportation services to disabled veterans. The Friends of DAV serves the 14,000 veterans in Carroll County by providing free nonemergency transportation to medical and dental treatments. Pictured with the van from left to right are Bill Murphy with Friends of DAV; Donna Trado, branch manager for Point Breeze; and Greg Kahlert, president of the Kahlert Foundation, which provided a $45,000 grant to the Friends of DAV to help purchase the van and a wheelchair ramp.
Hanscom FCU The Hanscom Federal Credit Union Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of the $1.6 billion, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.-based Hanscom Federal Credit Union, held its sixth annual Alan M. Hart Memorial Charity Golf Classic at the Red Tail Golf Club in Devens, Mass., on Sept. 21. Twenty-one companies and organizations, including title sponsor Allied Solutions, sponsored the event, raising over $115,000 – part of the foundation's $750,000 commitment to support Home Base over five years. Home Base is a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program dedicated to healing the invisible wounds of war for veterans, service members and their families. Pictured from left to right are Hanscom FCU Charitable Foundation Chairman Paul J. Marotta, Allied Solutions CEO Peter Hilger and Hanscom FCU President/CEO David Sprague.
Naveo CU Employees from the $156 million Naveo Credit Union in Somerville, Mass., trade in their business attire for jeans and their favorite New England sports team T-shirt in exchange for a donation to Boston Children's Hospital, their local Children's Miracle Network hospital, as part of the Miracle Jeans Day initiative. During the month of September, Naveo raised funds from employees and members, then matched employee donations for a total donation of $1,200. To raise additional funds, Naveo extended employee jeans day from Sept. 9 to all Fridays throughout the month. Due to the pandemic, Naveo established an online portal for member and neighbor donations, which were also accepted at branches.
Financial Plus CU Nine-year-old Hope, one of the 20 winners of the $662 million, Flint, Mich.-based Financial Plus Credit Union's Kids Bike Giveaway social media contest, shows off her new bike. The contest ran from July through August on the Financial Plus Facebook page. Facebook followers entered the contest by posting a comment for the child they wished to nominate along with his or her favorite color and the hashtag #FPCUBikeGiveaway. After commenting, followers were required to like and share the contest post to be entered. Volunteers from Financial Plus put together each winner's bike.
DayMet CU
Tammy Bretzfelder (left), mortgage loan officer for DayMet Credit Union, and Edie Volz (right), member sales and service representative for DayMet, present a $2,500 check to Ronisha Mays-Bailey (center), winner of the credit union's Home Makeover Sweepstakes. The $90 million, Dayton, Ohio-based DayMet provided automatic entries into the summer sweepstakes with every home loan application.
Please send your Community news items to Natasha Chilingerian at [email protected].
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
