Press
“SECU Supports the Troops” Project Nets 5,000 Gift Boxes for Deployed Soldiers!
CONTACT:
Leigh Brady, Senior Vice President
Education Services, SECU
919-807-8344, fax: 919-807-8348
E-mail: leigh.brady@ncsecu.org
Raleigh, NC, November 15/ Business Wire –State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) staff and member volunteers gathered in Raleigh on Saturday, November 6th for a massive packing effort to prepare 5,000 holiday gift boxes for North Carolina National Guard and other NC based military soldiers deployed overseas. With 180 people on hand, the boxes were filled in just a couple of hours and a US Postal Service eighteen-wheeler arrived to take the boxes for delivery.
The gift boxes were packed with a wide variety of travel size items including dental supplies, soap, shampoo, first aid items, travel games, socks and food. These items were collected in all 233 SECU branches statewide, and many local schools and State Agencies also helped with collection efforts. Monetary donations were also accepted to help with the shipping costs.
Steve Sheppard, SECU’s Raleigh-NCSU Advisory Board member, commented, “I would like to personally thank SECU for the Support the Troops Campaign. I was mobilized for two tours of duty for Iraqi Freedom as a Navy Reservist serving with the US Army. We were 750 strong but always looked forward to our mail and especially the care packages. Many items in the boxes were unobtainable at our bases. The long days and poor conditions were made better by the magical boxes and the thought that someone at home cared.”
Leigh Brady, Senior Vice President-SECU Education Services, added, “The idea behind this campaign began with a holiday stocking project for the troops, initiated by SECU’s Roanoke Rapids branch a number of years ago. SECU employee Gayle Pigford led the effort and numerous SECU area branches joined to collect over 1,000 stockings for the troops in 2009 alone, as part of the national Boatsie’s Boxes program. When SECU decided to initiate a statewide campaign, we had no idea that the volume of donations and volunteers would be so tremendous. We are elated with the results.”
SECU Board of Director Vice Chairman McKinley Wooten assisted with the November 6th effort and noted, “State Employees’ Credit Union, led by its ‘People Helping People’ philosophy, feels strongly about efforts to support the troops. We are so thankful to each and every person who contributed items, money and time to ensure that our deployed soldiers will receive a touch of home this holiday season, as they continue to serve and protect our great Country.”
About SECU
SECU is a non-profit financial cooperative owned by its members. SECU has been providing the employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for over 70 years. Currently serving 1.6 million members, SECU provides services through 233 branch offices, over 1,000 ATMs, 24/7 call centers and a website, www.ncsecu.org.