CU Philanthropy Group Helps Afghan War Victims

MoneOne FCU staff members, including former CEO Debbie Connors, center, helped assemble prosthetic devices that were delivered to amputees in Afghanistan.

During the past few years, credit unions such as the $62 million, 10,200-member Healthcare Systems FCU in Falls Church, Va., and the $257 million, 22,000-member Dominion CU in Richmond, Va., have participated in team-building events to support CU Helping Hands, a charitable program launched by the CU Philanthropy Group to assist amputees in war-torn countries.

Through the program, executives and staff at about 20 credit unions have assembled more than 180 prosthetic hands, which have been distributed through Afghanistan’s Islamic Investment and Finance Cooperatives to victims of land mines and other atrocities of war, said Frank Hackney, founder of CU Philanthropy Group, a nonprofit organization, and The Conference Group LLC, a consultancy firm in Washington, D.C.