CUs Support Children’s Hospital Staff & Underserved Schools

Staff members from the $2.9 billion SAFE Credit Union based in Folsom, Calif., surprise staff members at City Year in Oak Park, Calif., with a $20,000 grant. City Year sends near-peer mentors to underserved schools in Sacramento to help students succeed. City Year representatives cheer students as they arrive to school each day to honor them for their hard work and to pump them up for the day. During class time, AmeriCorps members use positive coaching to help students overcome challenges that may lead them to dropping out of school. They also assist with tutoring students in math and English to stay on track to graduate with their peers.

Staff from the $4.5 billion Bellco Credit Union in Greenwood Village, Colo., present a $25,000 check to Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation in support of the hospital’s nurses and medical staff, both specifically in the emergency department and hospital-wide. The gift will help fund Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Nursing Resilience Programs, designed to help ensure nurses and medical staff receive the support they need to lower stress levels and healthfully cope with the physical and emotional demands of their roles. The donation was presented at an event at the hospital that included hospital leaders and members of the nursing staff. Bellco and Children’s Colorado have been community partners for 12 years, with Bellco annually hosting mobile blood drives for the hospital at various branches and providing financial contributions through its Charity of the Month program.

Staff members from the $7.5 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage, Alaska present a $15,000 check to the Food Bank of Alaska. The donation was just one part of $71,400 overall donation that the credit union gave in support of community food banks during its annual Cash for Cans food drive. The credit union and the Alaska USA Foundation teamed up for the fundraiser, collecting cash donations at Alaska USA branches during the month of September. Donations will assist 21 food banks in Alaska, Maricopa County in Arizona, the High Desert region of California and Washington State.

Hailey Baker’s students, pictured here, recently received a new Google Home. The purchase was sponsored by the $911 million Honor Credit Union in Berrien Springs, Mich. Baker, a special education teacher at Allegan’s L.E. White Middle School, had the vision to implement more technology into her classroom. But as many educators know, the need for additional supplies and technology in the classroom is often followed by the big question of where to get the money. Baker told Honor CU in her Teacher Award submission, an annual contest the credit union holds every year, that a Google Home device would provide significant support for her students with special needs. Forty winners were named after a difficult selection process, Baker being one of them.

Students from Castro Elementary School check out the school supplies included in a free backpack donated by the $2.3 billion Canvas Credit Union in Lone Tree, Colo., and CO-OP Financial Services during their Back to School Drive in November. Canvas was one of 22 credit unions nationwide to participate in CO-OP Financial Services 2018 Back to School Drive, delivering over 1,150 backpacks filled with school supplies to schools in need. The Canvas team volunteered time in October to fill 100 backpacks with necessary learning tools, such as pencils, notebooks, erasers and rulers. The filled packs were then delivered and presented to each fifth grader at Richard T. Castro Elementary School in Denver.

Sarah Borland, director of business and community development at the $483 million, Dublin, Ohio-based BMI Federal Credit, present a check for $1,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio. This is a staff donation, as BMI FCU will serve as the “Bowling Ball Sponsor” for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” event in March. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio matches caring volunteers with kids facing adversity by providing professionally-supported and structured mentoring relationships that have a measurable positive impact on youth, mentors and the community.

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