Columbia Credit Union, Vancouver, Wash., recently announced the purchase of 1.8 acres of land in Battle Ground for a future branch site. Located across the street from the current branch operating inside the Battle Ground Fred Meyer, the new location will eventually house a stand-alone, full-service facility in the next two to three years. Currently, approximately 3,000 households use the Battle Ground branch.

Dover Federal Credit Union, Dover AFB, Del., recently added another branch to better serve its members. The branch will serve those living in the Smyrna, Middletown, Odessa and Townsend areas and is easily accessible to Dover Federal Credit Union members that commute between New Castle County and southern Delaware. Sharing in the festivities of the Grand Opening Event were Russell McCready, chairman of the board, and board members, Charles Miller, Kathleen Adams, and Mary Frey-Foss. Also attending from the local community were the Honorable Bruce Ennis, the Honorable P. Brooks Banta, David Hugg, Judy Diogo, Arthur Ashe, and Patrick Mahaney. This is the sixth branch office of the CU.

Numerica Credit Union, Spokane, Wash., is expanding customer service with two new branches in 2007, located in Hayden, Idaho and Airway Heights, Wash. The site at Airway Heights is located on Hayford Road, and the Hayden site is on North Cornerstone Drive (across from Albertsons). Construction for both locations is expected to be completed in the fall of 2007. The locations were chosen based on members' need to have more readily accessible Numerica products and services, according to the credit union. Each branch will be approximately 4,100 square feet and will house member service officers, teller stations and drive-through stations necessary for a full-service financial institution. Numerica currently has 14 branches throughout Spokane, The Wenatchee Valley area, Kennewick and Coeur d'Alene. The most recent of which was the Wandermere branch in north Spokane, which opened in August of 2006.

DONATIONS

Connex Credit Union, New Haven, Conn., recently donated $228.26 to the Greater New Haven Community Chorus (GNHCC). The money for this donation came from the fees collected by the coin counting machine in the Hamden branch for the first quarter of 2007. The machine charges a five percent fee to members and a seven percent fee to nonmembers, which Connex gives to nonprofit organizations in the community.

Each year South Division Credit Union, Evergreen Park, Ill., offers to award two $500 scholarships to local college-bound students based on the students' financial need, academic achievements and letters of recommendation. This year, however, there was only one qualified applicant for the pair of $500 Educational Scholarships. The good news is: this year's qualified applicant was so outstanding and full of promise that the SDCU Prize Committee unanimously agreed that Carmelo Chimera, a graduating senior at Brother Rice High School, should receive the full $1,000 to help him pursue his educational dreams.

WEOKIE Credit Union, Oklahoma City, recently awarded 12 high school seniors in the OKC Metro area a total of $15,000 in scholarships. Graduating high school seniors wrote an essay about how they would save or spend $10,000 to plan for their financial future. The WEOKIE CU Foundation, who handled, the scholarships received a total of 114 essays.

Tobyhanna Army Depot Federal Credit Union, Scranton, Pa., recently presented scholarships to three high school seniors at its 53rd Annual Meeting. Contestants were selected on multiple criteria including academic achievement and 1,000 word essays on the "Importance of a Credit Score". Each the year the credit union's Youth Committee offers three scholarships to high school seniors totaling $3,250.

Days after celebrating National Volunteer Week, the Maine Credit Union movement's unique volunteer program called Credit Unions Share for ME, Westbrook, Maine, released the final results of volunteer efforts by Maine's credit unions in 2006, and the amount of hours credit unions spent volunteering in their community. The five year-old, award-winning program documented 19,492.75 hours volunteered by credit union staff and directors. Based on figures from the Points of Light Foundation, which calculates the value of one hour volunteered at $18.77, the value of the time volunteered by Maine's credit unions equaled $366,015 in 2006. According to the Maine Credit Union League, which coordinates the Program, a total of 2,029 staff and volunteers (a 5% increase from 2005) representing Maine's credit unions participated in the program during the past year. In 2006, the top five credit unions donating the most volunteer hours were (location of main office and total hours listed in parentheses): Saco Valley CU in Saco (2,789); Five County CU in Bath (2,506.75); Rainbow FCU in Lewiston (2,299); Oxford FCU in Mexico (1,338); and Maine State CU in Augusta (1,245). The top five credit unions with the most total volunteers were: Rainbow FCU in Lewiston (201); Saco Valley CU in Saco (200); Midcoast FCU in Bath (178); Five County CU in Bath (159); and Maine State CU in Augusta (138). Throughout the year, credit union representatives participated in community-related projects, such as school activities, ending hunger, serving on nonprofit boards, organizing community fundraisers, donating blood, youth athletics, soup kitchens, walk-a-thons, and a host of other events and activities. In 2006, the Program averaged 1,624 hours volunteered per month with an average of 169 volunteers participating. Credit Unions Share for ME tracks and updates the volunteer efforts of credit unions on a monthly basis. Since the program began in April 2002, Maine credit unions have volunteered a documented 83,600 hours for community-service projects.

Northwest Federal Credit Union, Herndon, Va., continues to reach out to young members and the community in an effort to promote financial literacy. Recently, the NWFCU Foundation help spread the importance of early saving through an interactive meet-the-author and book reading event at the NWFCU Enterprise Branch. The Sammy Rabbit Extravaganza featured Sammy Rabbit, the adventurous character in author Sam X Renick's book series that emphasizes the importance of saving and reading as its primary messages. The Foundation's event gave members and their families an opportunity to meet the children's author, Renick, and enjoy an animated book reading and signing. Children especially enjoyed dancing with Sammy Rabbit to his popular music tunes and taking their photo with Sammy as a part of the event keepsake. To support NWFCU's ongoing Children's Miracle Network (CMN) fundraising initiative, all book and music CD proceeds from the event benefited CMN. Earlier in the day, NWFCU Foundation sponsored Sammy's book readings at three local elementary schools where more than 975 students ranging in grades from kindergarten to third grade enjoyed an assembly with Renick and Sammy Rabbit. The school visits included a trip to Armstrong Elementary in Reston, Centreville Elementary School in Centreville and Dogwood Elementary in Reston.

Silver State Schools Credit Union, Las Vegas, recently announced the winners of its 2007 scholarships for high school seniors. Each of these scholarships awards $2,000 annually, renewable for up to four years, and is awarded to seniors who demonstrate excellence in academics, athletics and community service. Three of the scholarships are named for long-time volunteers Arlene Parkinson, Bart Roche, and Leonard Petoske, and one is named for the credit union and is needs based.

CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union, Harrisonburg, Va., raised a total of $4,257.82 for the March of Dimes; an organization that raises money for research, community service and education for infant birth advocacy. For two months, CommonWealth One raised money by selling Bean Bag Animal Babies and Paper Booties in the local branches. The CU also sponsored a walking team of 23 team members in the annual Harrisonburg March of Dimes Walk. The annual walk raised over $95,000 this year. March of Dimes Walks are held in 1,100 communities across the nation. Every year, 7 million compassionate people, including 20,000 company and family teams as well as our national sponsors, participate. These events have raised more than $1.7 billion since 1970 to bring the March of Dimes closer to the day when all babies are born healthy and full term.