Part of our credit union’s Vision is to help our communities thrive, and we do this by asking each employee to participate in at least one, 3 hour event or volunteer opportunity that we schedule throughout the year. Many of our employees take this action request personally to not only achieve their volunteer goals, but exceed them (we had an average of 10 hours per employee in 2019!). Whether it’s through financial literacy events, local events, or simply volunteering their time and skills to worthy organizations, these volunteering efforts make up a big part of the credit union difference to us.
In the past, we’ve averaged over 500 hours for the year. So for 2019, we established a goal of 800 hours with the addition of our all staff volunteer day in October…. AND WE CRUSHED IT!
1,028.25 hours to be exact!
We want to give a shout out to our own staff who marked another successful year full of volunteering, fundraising, donating to charity drives and community groups throughout 2019. They are what makes our organization so unique! Below is a breakdown of our 2019 community numbers:
- Employees donated over $4,100 in “Denim for Dollars” donations to local community partner organizations.
- Employees volunteered over 1,025 hours to local non-profit organizations.
- Provided over $30,000 in donations and sponsorships
- Gave out $10,000 in scholarships
- A combination of 28 Mortgage Home Buying Coffee Talks, Lunch N Learns, and Community Seminars.
- Provided 15 Presentations to local schools.
- Spent 580 hours with Chambers of Commerce and Business Partners.
- Spent 417 hours of financial counseling, training or presentations to students and adults.
Denim for Dollars is a program created by our employees to raise money for local charities and credit union advocacy by donating $1 to wear jeans on Fridays. Since the launch in 2016, our staff has raised nearly $14,000 in donations! Some of the organizations that received donations included the St Louis Food Bank, HEROES Care, Credit Union Advocacy PAC, and all the nonprofits we volunteered at on our CU Volunteer Day.
RECOGNIZING OUR TOP VOLUNTEERS
“We are just so proud of our staff for taking our organization’s goals personally and really shattering expectations,” said Lori Hudson, Community Outreach Specialist. “It feels good to have your personal values align with the culture of your workplace, and people really took it to heart that we are here to help our communities thrive.”
So much so, that we set a NEW GOAL of 1,100 hours for company community involvement! Mirela Jakubovic who was our top volunteer in 2019 was so inspired by her own personal achievement that she set a personal goal of 40 hours for 2020! You go girl — we believe in you! #AllIn #LivingOurValues
And we’ll keep you updated throughout the year on our progress on our website and social media. Make sure to follow along with the hours ticker on the bottom of our homepage too!
