Part of our credit union’s Vision is to help our communities thrive, and in a normal year we do this by asking each employee to participate in at least one 3-hour volunteer opportunity that we schedule throughout the year. It was great to get back out there after 2020, and we want to give a shout out to our staff who marked another successful year full of volunteering, fundraising, donating to charity drives and community groups throughout 2021. They are what makes our organization so unique!
Giving by the numbers:
- Held 24 financial webinars/seminars with 227 attendees
- Gave out $13,000 in scholarships
- Hosted 4 shred events
- Our staff volunteers over 660 hours to community
- Assisted over 54 organizations
- Provided over $41,000 in donations/sponsorships
Denim for Dollars
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. Our staff raised $4,000 in 2021 and since the launch in 2016, nearly $23,000 in donations! Some of the organizations that received donations included the Credit Union Advocacy PAC, Boys Hope Girls Hope, the Saint Louis Area Food Bank, and First Chance for Children.
All Staff CU Volunteer Day
While our branches were closed on Columbus Day, our entire staff still put in the work to serve our communities. We broke up into 8 different groups and volunteered our time with our community partners at Boys Hope Girls Hope, Little Bit Foundation, Home Sweet Home, Nurses for Newborns, Kidsmart, Marygrove, HEROES Care, and First Chance for Children.
“Doing things like this all together outside our four-walls in the office really strengthens our bonds as partners. Thinking we are really doing something big for our community really feels fulfilling.”
– Staff Member
Back-to-School Drive
The pandemic has had an impact on everyone, but the toll on school aged kids & teachers is a struggle in itself to measure. In July, we hosted a back-to-school drive to help several local organizations help kids thrive including Foster Adoptive & Care Coalition, Little Bit Foundation, New Haven Elementary & Kidsmart.
Book Drive
In October, we partnered with Krissy’s Kids Book Club to collect books for Ready Readers, including a drive thru event on November 6. We collected over 1000 books and donated an additional $1,000 to the effort.
Employee Holiday Drive
In a continuing effort to support the community partners from our All Staff CU Volunteer Day, we held an internal holiday supply drive with the needs of these organizations in mind and on top of what our employees provided donated an additional $3,000 in items.
“Part of our credit union’s mission is to help our communities thrive, which makes it such an amazing place to work,” states Lori Hudson, Community Outreach Specialist for West Community Credit Union. “In a time when so many non-profits are suffering from the pandemic, it’s great to be able to help support the organizations that are helping so many in need throughout our communities.”
We’re always looking for ways to help our community and we can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store. 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!
