Pennsylvania credit unions care for kids!

Credit Unions for Kids (CU4Kids) fundraising supports over 10 million kids and their families treated each year in the United States. Kids like Malaya, who is treated at Penn State Children’s Hospital:

Malaya’s mom, Amanda, gave birth to her daughter at home as planned, but her midwife immediately noticed something was seriously wrong. Malaya’s abdomen was enlarged and she went into cardiac arrest. She was rushed to York Hospital, where she stayed in the NICU for 5 days until she was stable enough to be flown by Life Lion to Penn State Children’s Hospital. Here, Malaya spent 3 weeks in the NICU and 3 more weeks in the Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit.

During this time, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called MMIHS (Megacystis Microcolon Intestinal Hypoperistalsis Syndrome). This means she has an enlarged floppy bladder and can’t urinate on her own, has an extremely small colon and no motility in her intestines. Malaya was, at one point, TPN and lipid dependent for 20 hours a day, was fed through a G-tube and catheterized every four hours.

Yet, because of the amazing doctors, nurses, and staff at Penn State Children’s Hospital, she has overcome these challenges. Malaya is now a thriving one year old who’s organs are in stable condition! This couldn’t have happened without the support from community partners, like credit unions, stepping up to fund lifesaving equipment, research, and hospital needs.  

Credit unions raise funds for local children’s hospitals through a program called Credit Unions for Kids, which is a program run by Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals. CMN Hospitals raises funds and awareness for 170 children’s hospitals throughout North America, with every dollar raised staying in each local community. In the past 22 years of being recognized as the charity of choice for Americas Credit Unions, over $170 million has been raised to help sick and injured children- by credit unions alone!

Credit Unions in Pennsylvania have been a major reason for the success. In 2017 alone, they raised over $326k for five children’s hospitals: Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Saint Vincent Hospital, and Penn State Children’s Hospital.

“We greatly appreciate the support of local credit unions and the funds they raise to support Patient and Family Services at our hospital,” said Julia Wicoff, Director of Retail Cause Marketing and Children’s Miracle Network at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “These services truly make a difference in the lives of our patients and families, helping them heal and cope in their journey.”

CU4Kids offers a variety of ways for credit unions to engage their members, employees, and communities in fundraising and raising awareness. We engage employees through our brand-new employee giving technology and  Miracle Jeans Day. We engage members through our home banking fundraising ask and by donating a portion of fees collected from programs like Skip a Pay and ATM Transaction.  Finally, we engage all community members through Vote for Miracles (sponsored by CO-OP Financial Services) which allows anyone to vote for their local children’s hospital to win a portion of a $100k donation. Those campaign materials and details can be found on the website.

Besides the nationally facilitated campaigns, some credit unions opt into engaging with CU4Kids in their own way. Like Citadel Federal Credit Union who sponsors a major country music festival which generates a $100k donation to CHOP ($50k from Citadel and $50k ticket sales). Or Bayer Heritage Credit Union who sells cookbooks. Or American Heritage who raised $45,000 through their Gelatin Olympics. Or Service 1st Federal Credit Union who hosts a golf tournament. Credit Unions are dedicated to being innovators when it comes to supporting their communities, so everyone has a better standard of life.

“Credit Unions are one of CMN Hospitals top partners for many reasons. One example is they understand the importance of engaging their communities, both members and employees, in philanthropic activities. They practice their motto of people helping people because it adds value to the community but also to their business,” Says Chris Perry, Managing Director of Corporate Partnerships at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Industry research backs it up. 79% of consumers and members say they are more loyal to a purpose driven company. 66% of people say they would switch from a company (credit union) they typically support to a new company (credit union) that is purpose driven. 51% of employees refuse to work for an organization that does not have strong social commitments.

Corporate Social Responsibility clearly matters, but why have credit unions decided to develop a strong connection with children’s hospitals? First, employees have ranked health causes as the number one cause they want to support. Second, medical debt is one of the top reasons for financial challenges in the United States. When credit unions support their local children’s hospitals, they are supporting their members.

The Credit Unions for Kids team is so grateful to the Pennsylvania Credit Unions for your strong and unwavering commitment to help us in our efforts to save kids lives.

To learn more about how your credit union can participate in CU4Kids and raise funds for your local children’s hospital, contact Nick Coleman at ncoleman@cmnhospitals.org.

Nick Coleman

Nick Coleman

Nick Coleman was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa and graduated from Loras College. After college, his passion for fundraising and giving back to the community led to him ... Web: www.CU4Kids.org Details