HELENA, Mont.–Credit union staff and members around Montana have given almost 4,000 hours of volunteer time to the communities they serve in the month of October, as part of their annual Giving Time challenge.
The challenge was created in 2017 by Montana’s Credit Unions to highlight the ongoing volunteer work that all credit unions do and to showcase just how many hours they invest in Montana’s towns on a regular basis. Investing in and having concern for the residents of the areas they serve is part of credit unions’ core philosophy, as they believe in investing locally to build local economies and, in turn, build the financial wellness of the local population, the Montana Credit Unoin Network said.
“I am grateful for credit union staff, volunteers, and members who logged their volunteer hours for this challenge,” said Karen Smith, VP of Advocacy at Montana’s Credit Unions. “We set a goal of 3,000 hours, and just like last year, we blew past the goal by almost 1,000 hours! Our credit unions believe so much in the cooperative spirit we all try to embody, and this is one way to visually represent the hard work they consistently display to make an impact in the communities they serve. We are so proud.”
During the campaign, which celebrates International Credit Union Day on October 18, but ran the entire month of October, credit union employees, volunteers, and members who gave time in any way logged their hours of service on the Giving Time website. Volunteer activities could be any initiative or project that could help change a life — be it running a food drive for a local food bank (like Vocal CU did for Helena Food Share), teaching people about financial planning (like Embark CU did for new home buyers at Neighborworks in Great Falls), or closing their doors for an afternoon so staff can help to build a school garden, paint a house, or fundraise (like Park Side CU did with Habitat for Humanity in Kalispell).
The campaign ended with the credit unions exceeding their goal of 3,000 service hours for Montana by almost 1,000, with a total of 3,990 hours at midnight on October 31st, according to the Montana Network.