Even in the face of a worldwide pandemic, we have seen the best of humanity. That’s what the #CreditUnionsCareChallenge is rooted in, humanity!

Today, the #CreditUnionsCareChallenge has generated an economic impact of more than a half-million dollars, with every penny supports local communities in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia because of credit unions!

“When faced with adversity, credit unions always rise to the occasion. Whether acts of kindness or good deeds affecting hundreds of people, plenty of credit union employees are doing what they can to help out in the midst of COVID-19 chaos,” explains the Southeastern Credit Union Foundation (SECUF) Board Chairwoman Tina Williams, who is also the CEO of Mobile Educators Credit Union. “There are more than 8,000 CU employees across our three states footprint currently participating in this challenge.”

The way it works: Participating credit unions commit a minimum of $25 to each employee to do a good deed in their community by supporting a local restaurant or small business. If a credit union accepts the challenge, SECUF matches up to $25 per employee to all participating credit unions to make an additional impact in their community.

“With credit unions, there isn’t a shortage of generosity. SECUF’s part in this is to double that impact, by matching the donations. To date and together with the credit unions, we have made purchases and donations totaling more than $500,000 for small locally owned businesses and organizations,” explains LSCU CEO Patrick La Pine. “And right as we got this campaign off the ground, Corporate America Credit Union helped us get off on the right foot with a generous $100,000 donation.”

“When we learned about the Challenge, Corporate America Credit Union was immediately on board. We know how badly local businesses and organizations are hurting right now and we wanted to help anyway we could. Even as we watch our country and communities suffer through this pandemic, the credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’ continues,” said Corporate America Credit Union CEO Pete Pritts. 

The #CreditUnionsCareChallenge is still ongoing for all LSCU affiliated credit unions.

 “This community challenge was created by First Commerce Credit Union out of Tallahassee, and the Southeastern Credit Union Foundation (SECUF) took it and expanded it across credit unions affiliated with the League of Southeastern Credit Unions (LSCU) in Alabama, Florida and Georgia,” says Chairwoman Williams. “Once we heard about First Commerce Credit Unions’ #LocalStrong effort, we thought ‘We can help, and we are going to’.”

This month, LSCU gifted $25 to its more than 100 employees to also participate in the #CreditUnionsCareChallenge to support locally owned small businesses. Those funds will also be matched by the SECUF.