SPIRE CU
When KS95 Morning Show host and longtime SPIRE Credit Union member Crisco (second from left) lost his loyal companion, Babe the black lab, suddenly in late June, SPIRE teamed up with the radio station and local animal rescue Secondhand Hounds to support dogs in need in Babe's memory. On July 1, Dan Stoltz (left), president/CEO of the $2 billion, Falcon Heights, Minn.-based SPIRE, joined the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio station's morning show in studio to announce the amount raised for the campaign in just 48 hours – a total of $94,500, which included a $25,000 match from SPIRE. Also pictured are Secondhand Hounds Founder Rachel Mairose (second from right) and KS95 Morning Show Personality Dez.
Alltru CU Alltru Juneteenth Heritage Awardee Camori J. (third from left) is honored at St. Louis, Mo., Mayor Tishaura O. Jones' (second from left) office on June 17 as one of three winners of the $337 million, Wentzville, Mo.-based Alltru Federal Credit Union's first-ever Juneteenth Heritage Award. Alltru invited individuals ages five to 25 to illustrate what Juneteenth means to them in the form of spoken word, written expression, dance, film or visual artwork. The credit union distributed a total of $1,750 to three winners; Camori received $250 as the winner in the five-to-11 age group. Also pictured are Alltru Community Development Manager Tracy Verner (left), City of St. Louis Treasurer Adam Layne (third from right), and Alltru Financial Empowerment Coordinators Stephanie Hughes (second from right) and Ken Paige (right).
Great Lakes CU Recommended For You
Great Lakes Credit Union ($1 billion, Bannockburn, Ill.) teamed up with environmental organization Alliance for the Great Lakes to sponsor a June 5 beach cleanup event at Waukegan North Beach in Illinois. In two hours, approximately 31 volunteers from GLCU and the public (pictured) removed over 33 lbs. of litter from the Lake Michigan coastline. The collected litter comprised of 1,844 separate pollutants – 707 pieces of plastic, 300 cigarette butts, 111 plastic bottle caps, 107 pieces of foam and 93 pieces of glass.
LAFCU At the final booth of a recent Financial Reality Fair hosted by LAFCU at Lansing Christian School in May, Christine Wood, LAFCU's executive administrative assistant, counsels a student on how he might improve his financial decision-making after reviewing his budget for living independently as an adult. The $960 million, Lansing, Mich.-based credit union's one-and-a-half hour Financial Reality Fair, presented with assistance from the Michigan Credit Union Foundation, provided estimated salaries based on pre-selected careers and assigned credit scores to high school seniors, who then visited 12 booths staffed by LAFCU employees and Lansing Christian faculty members to identify expenses likely to be incurred.
OnPoint Community CU OnPoint Community Credit Union ($9.3 billion, Portland, Ore.) donated $39,300 to the Oregon Food Bank as a result of its seventh Refer a Friend campaign benefiting local non-profits. During the campaign, which ran from Feb. 1 to March 31, OnPoint donated $50 to the organization for each new account opened through Refer a Friend. Referring and new members also received $50 each from OnPoint. Pictured from left to right are OnPoint Community Social Media Specialist Reagan Rosen and Oregon Food Bank Community Philanthropy Manager Celia Ferrer.
Polish & Slavic FCU Scholarship award winners pose for a photo at the Polish Museum of America in Chicago on June 4. The $2.5 billion, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union awarded a record $551,000 in scholarships to 488 young PSFCU members this year. The program targets both college-bound high school graduates and current university students, with the New York Credit Union Association coordinating the scholarships for high school graduates. Two other award ceremonies took place on June 1 at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York, N.Y., and June 2 at the Cracovia Manor in Wallington, N.J.
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.
