Credit Unions Support Hungry Kids, Teen Workers, Veterans & College Grads

Volunteers assemble pantry packs to feed hungry kids in Utah and Idaho. The $15.6 billion, Riverdale, Utah-based America First Credit Union, the America First Charitable Foundation, Young Automotive Group in Layton, Utah and the non-profit Young Caring for Our Young recently teamed up to assemble 12,500 packs. Throughout April and May, America First and 24 Young Automotive Group locations in Utah and Idaho assembled 500 pantry packs each. The pantry packs – each of which contained six meals and four snacks and cost an average of $5 – were used by local schools and food services to sustain youth over a weekend in May.

Graduates of Georgia State University in Atlanta receive special gifts from representatives of Center Parc Credit Union, a division of the $2.4 billion, Atlanta-based APCU, in May. Graduates who walked in GSU graduation ceremonies received a season pass for two to all Georgia State Panther’s football home games courtesy of Center Parc and the GSU Athletics Department. They also received a commemorative Center Parc magnet and water bottle.

With May being amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) awareness month, the $8.7 billion, Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Teachers Federal Credit Union participated in the 24th annual ALS Ride for Life and Pinwheel Planting for the 10th year in a row. To honor the theme of “A Cure is Blowing in the Wind,” Teachers volunteers (pictured) helped plant 6,000 pinwheels at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y., to represent the amount of lives lost each year due to ALS, and through sponsorship of the 24th Annual Honoree Recognition Benefit and the virtual ride, the credit union donated $11,000 in pursuit of a cure. This was the first Ride for Life without founder Chris Pendergast, who passed away after his 27-year-long battle with ALS.

SECU Foundation Executive Director Jama Campbell (center) presents a $500,000 check to Healing Transitions Executive Director Chris Budnick (second from right) with representatives from SECU Foundation and Healing Transitions. Healing Transitions, a Raleigh, N.C.-based non-profit providing peer-based treatment, shelter and supportive services for individuals struggling with addiction, has been battling overcrowding issues along with concerns for privacy and safety at its facilities. Funding from the SECU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization funded by contributions of members of the $49.6 billion, Raleigh, N.C.-based SECU, will help the non-profit increase capacity at the Women’s Campus, doubling housing accommodations to 210 beds and tripling the amount of education space with a new Career and Community Center.

Amanda Merz, community and government relations manager for the $4 billion, Folsom, Calif.-based SAFE Credit Union, talks with Bryan Stuart, executive director of Allegiant Giving, a non-profit supporting veterans based in Rocklin, Calif. SAFE recently donated $20,000 each to Allegiant Giving and Soil Born Farms, another Sacramento-area program assisting military veterans transition to civilian careers. Allegiant Giving will use the donation to pay for veterans’ certification tests through its Patriot U online education program.

St. Paul, Minn., teens pose by donated bikes. On May 1, the $612 million, Maple Grove, Minn.-based TopLine Federal Credit Union hosted a bike donation drive at all branch locations with donations benefiting Keystone Community Services’ Youth Program at Express Bike Shop in St. Paul. Donations from TopLine members, which ranged from a single bike to truck loads, totaled 310 bikes. Keystone’s Youth Employment Program is a youth-directed social enterprise, serving as a learning lab for young people entering the workplace, with all revenue reinvested back into the program. Each apprentice is required to work 200-plus hours and at the end of the program becomes certified in bicycle repair and small business skills.

Please send your Community news items to Natasha Chilingerian at nchilingerian@cutimes.com.