Global Credit Union Foundation volunteers present $50,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona and $50,000 to Arizona Housing Coalition. (Credit/Global CU)
The Anchorage, Alaska-based Global Credit Union has been in the news lately for its expansion efforts – most recently, it announced a plan to purchase a Washington State bank, and in 2022, when the credit union was still known as Alaska USA, it merged with the Spokane, Wash.-based Global, resulting in a new presence in California, Idaho, Arizona and Italy.
Along with that growth has come sizeable donations supporting communities in the states the $11.8 billion credit union serves, most recently Arizona, where its charitable arm, the Global Credit Union Foundation, donated $100,000 to charities on Nov. 6, 2023.
The annual Global Credit Union Foundation Fairway Friends Golf Tournament in Phoenix, which draws Global business partners, employees and members of the community, raised $50,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona and $50,000 for the Arizona Housing Coalition's StandDown Alliance, Global announced Wednesday. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona uses a volunteer mentoring network to develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people, while the StandDown Alliance helps veterans and their families who are experiencing housing instability and homelessness to get and stay connected to supportive services.
"Every year the Foundation golf tournament gets better and better," Geoff Lundfelt, president of the Global Credit Union Foundation, stated. "In large part because of the wonderful, welcoming people of Arizona and our amazing business partners. We are incredibly grateful to them for helping us sustain the critical work Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona and the Arizona Housing Coalition are doing."
The announcement followed another move by Global to support Arizona communities – a multi-year partnership with Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
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Natasha Chilingerian
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.
