FOLSOM, Calif. – (Oct. 27, 2020) – The challenge: to encourage SAFE Credit Union employees to volunteer to help the Greater Sacramento region during a time of social distancing.
The solution: the credit union’s inaugural Building CommYOUnity Week that provided a mix of in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities.
“As a nonprofit financial cooperative, SAFE understands the importance of supporting the well-being of the communities we serve,” said Amanda Merz, SAFE Credit Union community and advocacy engagement manager and creator of Building CommYOUnity
Week. “SAFE puts a high priority on philanthropy and volunteerism as part of the credit union mission of people helping people. We donate more than $400,000 a year to local organizations working to lift our region and to students through scholarships
to help them reach for their dreams. And every staff member at SAFE receives 16 hours of paid time each year to volunteer for the causes they care about.”
More than 170 SAFE employees selected from the many socially distanced and remote volunteer opportunities SAFE scheduled to support 11 local nonprofits that align with SAFE’s philanthropic pillars of health, education, and current and former military
personnel. Activities included making no-sew blankets for Hands4Hope; writing words of encouragement and journal prompts for City Year; stocking shelves for Placer Food Bank and Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services; writing letters to Snowline
Hospice clients; creating Welcome Home kits for Sacramento Self Help Housing; and other projects supporting St. John’s Program for Real Change, Wellsprings Women’s Center, St. Vincent de Paul, and HOPE Counseling.
The Building CommYOUnity week, held in September, is part of SAFE’s expanded service to the community to help meet challenges posed by the pandemic. SAFE donated $60,000 in emergency grants to four local organizations to assist them with financial
losses and additional need for their services due to COVID-19. SAFE also distributed thousands of protective face coverings to area nonprofits to help them safely assist local residents.
SAFE also extended emergency financial services to its members including no- to low-cost loans and payment deferral options on certain loans and credit cards to help them cope with lost wages during the pandemic.
“SAFE truly cares about our members, their neighbors, and all the communities we serve,” Merz said. “I’m pleased that SAFE launched what I expect will become an annual week dedicated to helping our region thrive.”
To learn more about SAFE’s grant program, please email [email protected]
About SAFE
SAFE Credit Union has made members an integral part of its vision since 1940. Over the years the credit union has kept the focus on what really matters, putting members first, a formula that has seen SAFE grow into a leading financial institution in Northern
California with more than $3.5 billion in assets and about 240,000 members. SAFE crafts every cutting-edge product and sterling service with members’ needs foremost in mind. In addition to banking services conveniently available through online,
chat, mobile, or phone options, SAFE offers in-person care for members and small businesses at service centers across the Greater Sacramento region and a mortgage lending office serving Contra Costa and Alameda counties. SAFE is a not-for-profit,
state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Insured by NCUA.
www.safecu.org