War Vet Picked for Mo. CU Home

Overcoming months of unforeseen delay, the Missouri Credit Union Association in cooperation with the Massachusetts-based Homes for Our Troops charity has identified a Missouri soldier for a new home to be built by state credit unions.Army Staff Sgt. Robert Canine, a native of Mexico, Mo., who lost both legs in Iraq last May, will receive a specially adapted home being funded by donations of Missouri CUs under the national CUNA-backed Homes for Our Troops project.The state league was the first after last summer’s presidential party conventions to unveil plans for the home-building venture, but the CU campaign hit a snag when a Branson vet had to back out after disclosing a prior conviction.A spokeswoman for the MCUA said Sgt. Canine along with a Missouri servicemen’s group, the Wounded Warriors, will meet with Missouri and Oklahoma CU executives and receive special recognition at ceremonies during the inaugural Credit Union Convention & Expo being held Sept. 22-24 in Branson.The meeting is a first-time joint meeting sponsored by the Oklahoma Credit Union League and MCUA.The MCUA noted that Sgt. Canine is currently undergoing a year of physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and learning to walk again on prosthetics. Canine will be joined at the Branson conference by his wife, Jennifer, and eight-year-old son, Sebastian.In building a home for an injured vet, the MCUA formally joins CU efforts on both coasts. The Massachusetts Credit Union League is also engaged in fundraising following on the heels of two homes financed by the Colorado and Minnesota leagues a year ago. Another fundraiser is underway in Portland, Ore.–[email protected]

Eloquent Online to Open Sept. Gen YEast Coast CU Marketing Conference

Eloquent Online will open and host the East Coast Credit Union Marketing Conference to be held Sept. 24-25 in Wilmington, N.C.The conference this year will be solely focused on Generation Y.Eloquent Online, a shadow CUSO of Chetco Federal Credit Union, uses live music performances to help credit unions connect with Generation Y.“We saw all of the unique and innovative things Eloquent Online was doing with youth immersion and we knew we need them here to shake things up,” said Cathy Killebrew from the North Carolina Credit Union League.The conference will be attended by credit union professionals from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.Jason Dias, president of Eloquent Online, will bring the CUSO’s multimedia and live music experience to the conference.“We will have a great message with live music. We don’t just talk about Gen Y. We bring Gen Y in person to these events. You cannot learn about Gen Y from a bullet point slide, you have to hear from and talk to them. We don’t just give out best practices for wooing Gen Y; we model them, live and in person,” Dias said.Last month, Eloquent Online held a live broadcast of a reverse financial literacy lesson. A Gen Y business owner told his story of how he left his credit union for a bank when the credit union could not keep up with the growth and online needs of his business.“Seeing a young 26-year-old entrepreneur tell the story of how he left his credit union for Bank of America because they did not have the online access for his small business is a wake-up call for credit unions everywhere,” Killebrew said.–[email protected]