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ABOUT COMMUNITYAMERICA
Press Releases Archive
CommunityAmerica Earns National Philanthropy Award
Fund-raising effort helped Junior Achievement bring financial literacy programs to more than 1,700 additional area students
LENEXA, Kan. ( 02/25/2008) -- Winning a coveted national award for philanthropy is nice. Winning it for a project that helps more than 1,000 kids and teens learn how to avoid money-management problems that foster poverty - that's as good as it gets.
That's how Dennis Pierce sees it. As CEO of CommunityAmerica Credit Union, he is naturally thrilled that the not-for-profit cooperative has earned the prestigious Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Award from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), recognizing the best in philanthropic projects performed by credit unions.
But for Pierce and the whole CommunityAmerica team, the real satisfaction comes from knowing that their project will make a real, sustainable difference in the lives of hundreds of children and families for the long term.
The award, to be presented at the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., in March, recognizes CommunityAmerica's record-smashing fund-raising drive to support financial and money-management education programs provided by Junior Achievement of Middle America.
The project earned the award for its success, as well as for the creative techniques used to drive it, from a senior executives' campout on the headquarters building back lawn, to Pierce's mechanical bull ride at the credit union annual meeting.
"We wanted to address one of the root causes of financial distress for so many families, the lack of financial literacy: not knowing how to manage money efficiently and wisely," Pierce said.
"As a not-for-profit cooperative dedicated to the financial well-being of our members, we seek opportunities to advance financial literacy throughout the communities we serve. This was one of several programs we support in that area, and we are delighted that our industry has seen fit to recognize the success our team achieved."
Junior Achievement provides students in grades K-12 a better understanding of what it means to live in a free enterprise system, and how business and economics work. This knowledge is then applied to what the students have already learned in school to develop financial literacy with an emphasis on managing personal finances.
"We wanted to support this cause in a big way, so we set out to break the record for the biggest contribution ever made by a single business or organization to Junior Achievement of Middle America," Pierce said. That meant setting a goal of $30,000.
CommunityAmerica employees, members, family and friends not only beat the record, they obliterated it. Together, they raised $43,618.12. A total of 260 people participated in the fund-raiser, collecting funds in branches, from family members and from vendors.
"CommunityAmerica enabled us to serve 1,723 more children this year than last year," said Ray Delia, Senior Development Director for Junior Achievement of Middle America.
CUNA established the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Program to encourage credit union involvement in community projects and activities. Top awards are given in each of seven categories arranged by the volume of assets; CommunityAmerica's effort took top honors in the largest category, for credit unions with $500 million or more in assets.
About CommunityAmerica Credit Union
CommunityAmerica Credit Union is a full-service financial institution with more than 168,000 members nationwide. As of Dec. 31, 2007, CommunityAmerica has nearly $1.7 billion in assets, ranking it among the nation's largest credit unions. Based on deposits, CommunityAmerica ranks among the top 10 Kansas City-based financial institutions. There are 27 CommunityAmerica branches in the Kansas City, St. Louis and Topeka areas.
CommunityAmerica provides a full suite of financial products, including checking, savings, loans and money market accounts. As a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution, CommunityAmerica can offer highly competitive rates on deposits, loans and investments. Other products and services provided by CommunityAmerica include 24-hour on-line banking and 24-hour telephone banking, Visa credit cards, insurance and financial planning products.
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