HARRISBURG, PA (March 9, 2021) —
The CrossState Credit Union Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of its Leaders in Financial Literacy programs. A video detailing each winner will be presented in the CrossState Credit Union Association’s virtual Hall of Achievement during its annual convention. A display award and grant will be delivered to the four credit union winners in support of their programs.
This year’s winners are ABCO Federal Credit Union, AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union, Credit Union of New Jersey, and Lanco Federal Credit Union.
With the onset of COVID-19, spring home buyer seminars were put on hold. With a need to reach members to educate them on the home buyer process, ABCO, in conjunction with their mortgage provider and a member/realtor, created a series of mortgage and finance related education which included the two Virtual Home Buyer Seminars, an All About Credit Seminar, 10 Myths about Homebuying seminar, and a Budgeting 101 session, with a total of 248 registrants.
To learn more click here.
When typical in-person financial educational seminars became impossible with children not in classrooms and fatigue from so many Zoom presentations was a concern, AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union got creative with ways to reach local teens and their parents in a different way that provided bite-sized financial education tips where they were spending their leisure time during the pandemic – through televised high school football games and on social media. With high school football being extremely popular in Central PA, but games not allowing spectators, local news stations fought for broadcasting rights of the Friday Night games. AmeriChoice decided to work with a news station, CBS21 to be the Official Financial Education Sponsor of their “Friday Night Rivals” games. Over nearly three months, every Friday while local students and parents tuned in for games, they also received a variety of short financial education tips that they could easily act on.
To learn more click here.
In March of 2020, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the CU of NJ Business Development Team was faced with countless challenges. They suddenly had to promote new member enrollment, engage their current and new SEGs, provide financial counseling, and grow current member relationships- in an entirely virtual landscape. Prior to the pandemic, the Business Development Team was consistently presenting live seminars in the community and at their SEG groups, reaching current and prospective members at local libraries and employee break rooms. They covered a multitude of topics in partnership with Member Wealth Management and CUMAnet such as Budgeting, Debt Management, Investments, Homebuying, and more. They could see the impact that the access to this free financial education had on those they reached so when the pandemic caused a complete halt to all in-person programs, the credit union’s Business Development Manager quickly shifted focus to come up with a way to continue providing members with the free financial education program that had been offered for years. By the beginning of April 2020, the credit union staff decided to conduct bi-weekly live webinars for current members using the GoToMeeting platform where members would have an opportunity to interact with the Business Development Team and each other. Not only were the members being provided with the same useful information that they had access to in the past, but they were also engaging as a credit union community in a time when they were feeling isolated from friends and family.
To learn more click here.
ReSET is for 8th to 12th grade students. It is a life-changing center for many students. ReSET allows students to refocus or reset personal decisions made in the school setting and enables them to move forward with better decision-making skills to ensure future academic and personal success. This program acts as a safe haven and refuge for students who have demonstrated difficulties following the normal school routine, school rules, code of conduct, or daily schedule. Every Monday, Lanco Federal Credit Union’s Business Development Manager would teach an hour and a half ReSET class on financial literacy and career success. He would use Junior Achievement materials as a base, extending them beyond their usual seven-week program to a 15-week program. The program was extended with topics such as expanded interviewing skills, writing a cover letter, preparing a resume, and mock interviews.
To read more click here.
Sponsors for this year’s awards include Platinum Sponsor Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union, Gold Sponsor Clearview Federal Credit Union, and Patron Sponsor Pheple Federal Credit Union.
The CrossState Credit Union Foundation, an affiliate of the CrossState Credit Union Association, is a nonprofit organization based in Harrisburg, PA. The Foundation serves the needs of small credit unions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, supports financial education initiatives, assists with costs related to credit union staff development, and provides disaster relief when help is needed most.
Michael Wishnow
Senior Vice President
Marketing & Communications
MWishnow@crossstate.org
