After meeting for several months to discuss strategy, 16 credit unions in and around Saginaw, Mich., announced on July 2 that they are launching a new community-building initiative, Impact Saginaw.

Gerald Hutto, chairman of Impact Saginaw and president and CEO of the $381 million, 34,400-member Team One Credit Union, said the campaign's mission is to educate the public about ways that credit unions can have an impact in enriching the lives of the Saginaw community, and to make Saginaw a better place to live, work and play.

“We tend to hear more about what's wrong with Saginaw instead of what's right,” Hutto added. “Because all of the credit unions involved have a strong commitment to this community, we felt it was the right time and place to bring us all together to make a difference.”

Impact Saginaw kicks off July 27 with “Triathlon for Kids,” an event being coordinated through the Saginaw YMCA and the race management company, Tri to Finish.  As a sponsor of the event, Impact Saginaw will enable children ages 12 and under to participate at no cost in the swim, bike and run activities. The event is being touted as “CU at the Y for a Youth Tri,” Hutto said, and organizers hope to draw up to 300 kids that may not have been able to participate if there were fees involved.

The second community event, “CU at the Zoo,” is set for Aug. 17 at the Saginaw Children's Zoo.  The event coincides with the Zoo's back-to-school event, and offers free admission and free ride tickets to the first 500 kids.

Organizers said they expect the initiative to grow in coming years.

“The credit union community is different than many competing industries, we each operate our credit unions to provide our members with the best in financial services, but we are also interested in making our communities a better place to live, work, and play,” Hutto said. “We all share that vision and can work together to better Saginaw.”

The credit unions involved in Impact Saginaw are:

• Wildfire Credit Union
• Team One Credit Union
• Catholic Federal Credit Union
• Wanigas Credit Union
• Security Credit Union
• Frankenmuth Credit Union
• United Financial Credit Union
• Saginaw Medical Federal Credit Union
• Family First Credit Union
• Generations Family Federal Credit Union
• Valley State Employees Credit Union
• Copoco Community Credit Union
• Saginaw County Employees Credit Union
• First Area Credit Union
• Amalgamated Credit Union
• Lake Huron Credit Union