The Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL) is proud to announce that four Michigan credit unions are national-level recipients of a 2018 Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Award.
CUNA’s Louise Herring, Dora Maxwell and Alphonse Desjardins Awards recognize credit unions throughout the United States for exemplary community service and financial education efforts. Read more about the criteria for each award here.
Congratulations to the following award winners:
Limestone Federal Credit Union, Dora Maxwell Award first place winner for The Grind Coffee House, a student-operated small business located in Manistique. The Grind was originally founded as an idea to increase youth education surrounding entrepreneurship, career options and business opportunities.
The Grind, which Limestone leveraged a $20,000 Michigan Credit Union Foundation (MCUF) Community Reinvestment Grant to start, held its soft opening in November 2017 after nearly three years of hard work and dedication, countless volunteer hours and constant fundraising.
University of Michigan Credit Union, Alphonse Desjardins Adult Award second place winnerfor their financial wellness events and activities in conjunction with Money Smart Week (MSW), April 2018. The credit union used the popular MSW program as a way to engage with members regarding the importance of financial wellness, offer something for everyone who is part of their diverse membership and have fun while teaching “money smart” habits.
Through the end of Q2 2018, University of Michigan Credit Union completed 101 separate educational activities that reached more than 2,300 people. For adult members, the credit union offers a series of free workshops that cover the full spectrum of financial wellness.
LOC Federal Credit Union, Alphonse Desjardins Youth Award second place winner for their youth financial education programs’ growth over the 2017-2018 school year. The year’s education initiatives directly impacted nearly 3,000 youth over the last 12 months. The credit union’s student-run credit union program saw a 36 percent increase in dollars saved, 22 percent increase in transaction numbers and 44 percent increase in new accounts compared to the previous year.
CASE Credit Union, Alphonse Desjardins Youth Award honorable mention for their work partnering with Lansing area education contacts to assess the financial literacy needs of the community’s youth. As a community development credit union, the issue of youth financial literacy is of particular importance to CASE, and the credit union allowed education leaders, parents and students to help guide their development of engaging new financial literacy content for youth and young adults. This creative and unique approach to financial education development has led to a program that reached more than 1,800 students in 2017.
Awardees were first selected as state-level CUNA Award winners in September before going on to compete at the national level. CUNA National Award winners will receive their awards at the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in March of 2019.
