Fresno county federal credit union

CUs Give Children Top Priority

CUs contribute their time, money, and creativity.

CREDIT UNIONS NATIONwide are continuing long-standing efforts to assist children and their families.

For the third year, Pacific Service Credit Union, Walnut Creek, Calif., donated $5,000 to the Sheriff's Foundation for Public Safety so low-income students could attend one of three weeklong camps at Lake Sequoia.

"Camp Reward" provides positive reinforcement and leadership training to students in the Elementary School Safety Program (ESSP), a drugawareness program offered in more than 40 Fresno County schools. ESSP is geared to fifth- and sixth-graders to reach at-risk children at a young age.

"This program has had a tremendous impact on children throughout Fresno County," says Tom Smigielski, president/CEO of $1 billion asset Pacific Service. "It's a fun week that reinforces lessons learned in the classroom about resisting drugs and violence."

Community partnership

Virginia Beach (Va.) Schools Federal Credit Union took part in a family night program in July at a local Chick-fil-A restaurant. The $51 million asset credit union hosted a craft table where kids could make change purses; a coloring and game table, where kids were tested on money facts; and an area where credit union employees read books about saving money. Staffers offered free counseling to parents about how credit scores work and how to build a good credit rating.

The credit union also serves as a "community partner" for the Virginia Beach public school system, notes Amy Wisilosky, director of marketing. Through this partnership, Virginia Beach Schools Federal is helping a middle-school teacher write the curriculum for a seventh-grade personal finance elective. "It's being considered as a stepping stone for a statewide program," she says.

The credit union provides free lesson plans and offers speakers for school functions. It reached more than 1,400 students in more than 14 schools during the 2003-2004 school year.

Philanthropy on wheels

Volunteers from a group of Aurora, Colo., credit unions known as the Aurora Credit Union Alliance staffed an aid station for the Courage Classic. It's a three-day, 162-mile bicycling event to raise money for The Children's Hospital in Denver. The theme of this year's credit union aid station was "Supporting Our Troops." The credit union volunteers enlisted the Air Force Honor Guard to staff the aid station for weary riders and to make a special presentation: the 12 folds of the American flag.