Helping our credit union members achieve their financial goals each day is certainly fulfilling work. However, few things are quite as heartwarming or immediately rewarding as opening an overstuffed envelope filled with colorful drawings and scribbled thank-yous from a class of freshly minted kindergarteners; or seeing a 5-year-old’s wide-eyed excitement as he peers into his very own suitcase-sized box of new crayons, markers, erasers, and other school supplies—according to the organizers of Keesler Federal Credit Union’s Bright Futures community giveback initiative.
This year alone, Bright Futures will donate and distribute approximately 19,200 school supply kits to children in 27 school districts representing more than 200 schools in South Mississippi, Central Mississippi, and St. Tammany and Jefferson parishes in Louisiana.
The longer-term benefit of the program, which launched in 2019, comes from providing our communities' youngest members with a positive start to their academic careers and helping families by shouldering some of the expenses associated with back-to-school season. The impact this innovative program has had is undeniable and continues to grow. As Bright Futures 2025 gears up, there’s no better time to look back at how this now beloved annual tradition came to be and has evolved.
The early years
The vision for Bright Futures (originally Backpacks for Bright Futures) took shape during a strategic planning session in which the board of directors voted to greenlight the largest community giveback project in the credit union’s history—donating essential supplies to public school kindergartners across its footprint.
“We wanted to focus on supporting education, knowing the increasing cost of school supplies burdens young families and teachers alike,” says Keesler Federal Board Chairman James Hollingsworth. For the inaugural year, the credit union concentrated its efforts on the six South Mississippi counties that comprised Biloxi-based Keesler Federal’s original service area. More than 6,200 incoming kindergartners from 64 schools in 16 districts received the free supplies. Reflecting on the program’s impact on students, families, and educators, Hollingsworth observes, “This project has truly been a win-win-win.”
Of course, all big ideas need a point person to work out the countless details associated with transforming a great concept into reality. Enter Anthony Abella, who, as the credit union’s financial education specialist at the time, was the logical de facto choice to drive the project. Leveraging his existing contacts within the local school districts, Abella compiled a list of core supplies to meet the schools’ requirements, obtained a headcount of incoming kindergartners, vetted numerous vendors and selected a supplier to create customized kits, secured a temporary facility to house inventory and be the logistical hub, and managed an enthusiastic team of several dozen credit union volunteers, including chiefs and board members, who loaded the convoy of school buses and vans that streamed through on distribution day.
A key factor in making this endeavor successful was the early decision to handle distribution directly with each school rather than with parents. “Each school picks up its allotment of kits at our central location and is responsible for distributing them to students,” explains Abella. Hollingsworth, Abella and other credit union leaders made the rounds to several area schools and were able to interact with eager children and grateful educators as the supplies were given out. “It was truly humbling to experience their excitement first-hand,” Abella notes.
The expansion years
After the resounding success of the first year, continuing the program was a foregone conclusion that not even a pandemic could derail. The number of children receiving supplies increased steadily each year until, in year four, Keesler Federal upped the ante by expanding the number of school districts to include those in the Hattiesburg and Jackson metro areas of Mississippi and Jefferson Parish in Louisiana, more than doubling the number of students receiving kits. In 2023, St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana joined the list of school districts served, and that year alone, more than 20,000 children received supplies.
As the project's scope increased, the kits were refined based on feedback from the partner schools, and distribution became more efficient, with multiple locations and days to cover the geographic spread. After this year, Bright Futures will have helped almost 90,000 kindergartners during its seven years.
“We have heard from educators and parents about the difference this program makes, and that makes it worthwhile to us. Keesler Federal strongly believes in supporting the communities we serve. Bright Futures certainly is one of our most important giveback programs,” said President and CEO Andrew Swoger. “This is an opportunity to make a tangible difference in people’s lives. Without these communities, we don’t exist. Without our members, we don’t exist. So, this is all about us giving back to the community.”
