Credit Unions Brighten Back-to-School Season

Assembly member Mike distributes backpacks to children during the 9th annual Back-to-School Community Block Party at LAFD Firehouse #64 in Watts, Calif., hosted by the $4.4 billion Kinecta Federal Credit Union based in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Kinecta and Nix Neighborhood Lending employees, members and vendors donated more than 500 backpacks filled with school supplies. The essential back-to-school items and backpacks were given to hundreds of deserving elementary students in the Watts community. During the block party event, “Sweet Alice” Harris from Parents of Watts and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) also helped distribute the backpacks to the children.

TruMark Financial Northbrook Branch Manager Bernadette Bayuk and Member Service Representative Nikita Patel help Bucks County Opportunity Council representative Robert Sesisto load a van with donated boxes of non-perishable food items for the council’s network of food pantries. Employees from the $2.1 billion TruMark Financial Credit Union in Fort Washington, Penn., launched the food drive this summer to help local food pantries replenish their supply of non-perishable food items. Donations typically decline during the summer months due to vacation schedules so the food pantries welcomed the deliveries. Eighty-six pounds of donated food will provide approximately 68 meals for people in the Bucks County food pantry network.

Employees from the $1.3 billion Altura Credit Union in Riverside, Calif., with help from CUNA employees onsite for a meeting, assemble care packages for evacuees of and firefighters battling the Holy Fire, which broke out Aug. 6 in the Cleveland National Forest straddling Orange and Riverside counties, where Altura is headquartered. Altura launched an emergency loan program for people impacted by recent wildfires, in particular the Holy Fire still burning in the Cleveland National Forest. On Aug. 10, Altura employees delivered 150 care packages to Corona and Lake Elsinore donation centers for Holy Fire evacuees and firefighters. The Holy Fire started on Aug. 6, 2018. It has consumed nearly 23,000 acres and displaced more than 20,000 people. At one time, 1,200 firefighters were battling the blaze. A local resident has been charged with arson in this fire. This is the second major fire to hit the Inland Empire in the past weeks.

Staff and volunteers from the $1.6 billion CAP COM Federal Credit Union in Albany, N.Y., (from left to right) Paige Rueckert, community and youth advocate; and Kate Fruscione, public relations strategist, alongside children who received backpacks at the Capital District YMCA. CAP COM and its charitable giving arm, the CAP COM Cares Foundation, completed their annual backpack program. Each year the foundation aims to deliver hundreds of backpacks to schoolchildren in need. This year the program delivered 743 backpacks, which have been donated to 26 organizations and schools in the capital region community. New backpacks were filled with school supplies including notebooks, folders, pencils, crayons, rulers, glue sticks and more. Thirty-two CAP COM employees volunteered their time to assemble, pack and deliver the backpacks over a week’s time. Backpacks were delivered the week of July 30 to Aug. 3 to youth at various organizations.

Employees from the $1 billion 1st United Credit Union in Pleasanton, Calif., prepare backpacks filled with supplies for their annual school supply and backpack drive in support of Alternative Family Services and the Alameda County Family Justice Center. 1st United collected enough supplies for 267 students, surpassing their goal of 200. 1st United received half of all donations from the Deacon Charitable Foundation, credit union members and employees, volunteers and local residents. The credit union donated $3,500, resulting in half of the rest of the donation, purchased school supplies and backpacks, and donated the supplies to 100 families.

Volunteers from the $3.3 billion Service Credit Union in Portsmouth, N.H., pack school backpacks with needed supplies at the Concord Boys and Girls Club. This effort capped off a very successful second-annual WMUR Pack-a-Pack drive, which collected more than 2,700 backpacks statewide. Service CU kicked off the drive with 100 backpacks. The credit union partnered with WMUR, the New Hampshire Food Bank and the Boys and Girls Clubs of New Hampshire for this worthy cause. Service CU members and those from the community recently dropped off backpacks with pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, No. 2 pencils, erasers, student scissors, glue sticks, spiral notebooks, 12-inch plastic rulers, ballpoint pens and two-pocket folders to Service CU branches across New Hampshire.

Please send your Community news items to Tahira Hayes at thayes@cutimes.com.