CUs Raise Funds for School Supplies, Service Dogs & Meals

From left to right, Donna McNeely, SVP and COO for Kinecta Federal Credit Union; Keith Sultemeier, president/CEO for Kinecta; Albert Robles, mayor of Carson, Calif.; California State Assembly Member Mike A. Gipson; and Sweet Alice Harris, Parents of Watts founder show off donated backpacks in the parking lot of Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson. Hundreds of families made their way there to pick up backpacks, school supplies and sweatshirts ahead of the new school year for Kinecta's 11th annual backpack giveaway. The event provided 600 backpacks to local families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kinecta ($5 billion, Manhattan Beach, Calif.) also collected $3,800 in monetary donations, which were used to purchase school supplies and additional backpacks. In addition to the families that picked up backpacks from Dignity Health Sports Park, backpacks were also donated to Kinecta community partners including the Al Wooten Jr. Youth Center, Environmental Charter, Parents of Watts, Richstone Family Center, GRYD Foundation, Thomas House Family Shelter, Los Angeles Police Department Southeast Division, Watts/Century Latino Organization and Motorcycle Riders for Homeless Parolees.

SECU Foundation Board Chair Jo Anne Sanford (left) presents a ceremonial check to Meals on Wheels of Wake County (N.C.) Executive Director Alan Winstead. The SECU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization funded by the contributions of members of the $45.19 billion, Raleigh, N.C.-based SECU, provided an additional round of disaster relief assistance to Meals on Wheels North Carolina (MOWNC). A second $500,000 grant from the Foundation will both help the organization replace lost revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic and support the growing need for food deliveries to over 43,000 homebound senior adults through a network of programs in all 100 North Carolina counties. The SECU Foundation awarded a $500,000 relief grant to MOWNC in April 2020.

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Volunteers help host the $866 million Santa Clara County Federal Credit Union's first Contactless Drive-Up Shred Event at its corporate headquarters in San Jose, Calif. The credit union's annual Clear the Clutter Shred Event is a big undertaking in itself, but the County Federal team managed to execute a contactless event while adhering to CDC guidelines regarding masks and social distancing. More than 5,200 lbs. of paper was shredded and recycled, and 114 cars showed up for the event. Donations were also collected for a canned food drive benefiting The Health Trust Jerry Larson FOODBasket. County Federal members donated 561 items – enough cans to fill five industrial sized barrels weighing approximately 368 lbs. Members remained in their vehicles while County Federal volunteers removed boxes and canned food donations from their trunks.

Winners of Ideal Credit Union's annual Member/Community Appreciation event show off their cash prizes. The $823 million, Woodbury, Minn.-based Ideal turned its annual event into a two-week virtual celebration that ran from Aug. 11-20. The credit union gave away 10 $500 grand prizes, five $250 grand prizes and 10 $50 Bucky Bear youth prizes for a total of $6,750 to 25 winners. Some recipients of the cash prizes said they plan to spend their winnings on upcoming travel, new tires and dinner at a restaurant. Ideal also donated $3,000 to local area food shelves in the communities it serves, including Hugo Good Neighbors Food Shelf in Hugo, Minn., The Open Door in Eagan, Minn., the North St. Paul Area Food Shelf in North St. Paul, Minn., the Christian Cupboard in Woodbury, Valley Outreach in Stillwater, Minn., and Neighbors, Inc., in Inver Grove Heights, Minn.

Members of the WE CARE team at the $115 million, Heath, Ohio-based Hopewell Federal Credit Union present a $1,500 donation for the state's Food Pantry Network of Licking County (FPN). During the month of May, HFCU welcomed new Hopewell members by making a donation on their behalf to FPN. These donations totaled $1,000. Additionally, each Friday, team members donated $1 in exchange for wearing jeans, and the funds collected throughout the year for this effort totaled $500. HFCU made these donations in lieu of its annual Operation Feed Campaign, which generates approximately 35% of the funding and food needed annually by FTN, and was impossible to execute this year due to COVID-19.

A Labrador Retriever and member of the America's VetDogs program poses for the camera. The $1.6 billion, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.-based Hanscom Federal Credit Union recently presented a check for $1,500 to America's VetDogs on behalf of the Armed Forces Financial Network. This grant matches the Board Memorial Award of $1,500 given to America's VetDogs at the end of 2019 by Hanscom. America's VetDogs is a charitable organization that trains and places highly skilled service and guide dogs with disabled veterans, active-duty service members and first responders at no cost to the recipient. The organization also operates a prison puppy program, where puppies live at correctional facilities, are trained by inmates Monday through Friday and spend weekends in a local puppy sitter's home. After up to 15 months of training with inmates, the dogs are sent to America's VetDogs' headquarters for final training and placement with a veteran, service member or first responder in need.

Please send your Community news items to Natasha Chilingerian at [email protected].

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Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.