CU members can help victims of Haiti earthquake.

Posted by SIU Credit Union on Jan 15th, 2010 | one comment

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and others in the credit union movement have begun rallying around the relief efforts to help Haiti’s 175 credit unions, their employees and volunteers, and their members impacted by Tuesday’s deadly earthquake.

As of Thursday afternoon, about 24 hours after the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions and the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) activated their sites for collecting donations, more than $83,570 combined had been contributed from the credit union movement.

Haiti’s 175 credit unions serve more than 400,000 members, according to WOCCU.

According to the International Red Cross, up to three million people have been affected, and the death toll is feared to be in the thousands. Many victims are sleeping in the streets.

All donations made via CUAid.coop will be forwarded to credit union organizations in affected areas through NCUF, which is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

For more information or to donate, visit  CUAid.coop and click on “Donate Now.”

Membership Pays

Posted by SIU Credit Union on Dec 9th, 2009 | no comments

Deborah Piquard receives a $500 Visa Gift Card from credit union President and CEO Dennis Schaefer. Piquard won the new member referral program award.

 

Credit Union members were asked in October and November to refer their friends and family to the credit union for membership. If they did, each person received $10 and a chance to win a $500 Visa gift card, just in time for the holidays.

Making a Difference with Pat’s Kids

Posted by SIU Credit Union on Dec 1st, 2009 | no comments

SIU Credit Union is a proud supporter of Pat’s Kids. Click here to hear a message from Pat Benton from Magic 95.1: Credit union Members

Donations are being accepted at any SIU Credit Union Branch Location through December 10. 100 percent of proceeds go to providing Christmas to sexually and physicall abused children in Southern Illinois.

Busy Holiday Week

Posted by SIU Credit Union on Nov 24th, 2009 | no comments

It’s been a busy holiday week for SIU Credit Union. Yesterday, I delivered a truck load of food collected by credit union employees to the final collection point of the SIU Credit Union, Withers Broadcasting Holiday Food Drive. I’m told that donation levels are greater than last year. All the food collected will fill food pantries throughout Southern Illinois.

Yesterday also started our sponsorship of Pat’s Kids. For many years, SIU Credit Union has been a major sponsor of this charity that gives abused and underprivileged children a chance to have a Christmas. The stories we hear from the kids are heartbreaking. We’re happy to be a part of this wonderful charity. If you are able, please consider dropping off a check, made payable to The Poshard Foundation, at any SIU Credit Union location or mail to River Radio, attention Pat Benton, 1431 Country Aire Drive, Carterville, IL 62918.

I also made my monthly visit to the Murphysboro Illinois Youth Camp. I spent the morning talking to the inmates about budgeting, credit scores and loan interest rates. This was a good group of kids who had many intelligent questions. We compared interest rates on a car loan for a person with good credit compared to someone with poor credit. The look on their faces told me they got my message.

Finally, we’ll be tailgating on Saturday from 11 to 1 as SIU battles EIU (my alma mater) in the first round of football playoffs. Pick up your tailgate tickets at these locations.

Happy Thanksgiving.

SIU Credit Union Holiday Food Drive

Posted by SIU Credit Union on Nov 13th, 2009 | one comment

The credit union movement is built around the concept of people helping people. We can think of no better way to illustrate that then our annual holiday food drive. From now until November 23, we’ll be collecting food for those in need in Southern Illinois. We’ve partnered with Withers Broadcasting and Krogers stores in Southern Illinois to collect the food. 

Look for the donation barrels at Kroger stores and at SIU Credit Union branches (provided by our friends at Black Diamond Harley-Davidson) and donate canned goods or non-perishable food through November 23rd.

Afterward, we’ll ensure that the food is donated to a food bank in each community.  That’s right, all the food donated here stays here in southern Illinois.  It’s truly neighbors helping neighbors.

If you’d like to make a monetary donation you can drop it off at any SIU Credit Union location and we’ll do the shopping for you.

My Credit Union Story

Posted by SIU Credit Union on Nov 6th, 2009 | no comments

For the past couple of days, a good friend and co-worker has been continually reminding me that I have yet to turn in an article for our blog.  Since I finally realized his persistence is both shameless and tireless, I decided I better get started.  “This won’t be hard,” I thought to myself.  After all, I oversee compliance for the credit union, so I could just choose one of the hundreds of regulatory changes currently affecting the financial sector, write a short blurb, and be done with it.  However, let’s face it…there are only a few of us nerds out there who actually enjoy reading the minute details of upcoming lending mandates or interchange legislation.  So I thought I would start off with telling my story about what I have learned first-hand about credit unions.

When I interviewed for this position just one year ago, CEO Dennis Schaefer asked me if I knew the difference between credit unions and banks.  I confessed that I did not (somehow I was still hired).  I soon learned that one of the main surface-level differences is that where banks are for profit, credit unions are not for profit, member-owned cooperative networks.  The underlying premise upon formation for all credit unions includes a desire to promote thrift and to provide credit to individuals who may otherwise be unable to obtain it.  When I learned this, I thought to myself, “that is a great story, and I’m sure that was the idea a hundred years ago, but in today’s society, that kind of desire and commitment to help your neighbor just doesn’t exist.”  I was immediately proven wrong.

Throughout this past year I have been amazed at not only SIU Credit Union’s desire and commitment to serve and help its members, but at the entire industry’s dedication to service.  I have attended several conferences and meetings with officers and executives from credit unions nationwide, and everywhere I go, the overall atmosphere can be summed up into one simple theme:  help your neighbor; serve the underserved.  This is evident on a daily basis from here at SIU Credit Union in Southern Illinois, to Washington, D.C. where credit union lobbyists are continually fighting for the best interest of the entire credit union movement.  As cliché as it may sound, I feel like I have become a part of a family here at SIU Credit Union.  I find it very refreshing to be a part of something that, in spite of these tough economic times, still manages to put people first and to go the extra mile.

Tell us your credit union story. We’d love to hear it.

– Amy Ragan, Internal Auditor and Compliance Officer