adminThe CUNA National Awards Committee recently honored four credit unions from Florida and Georgia with 2019 national awards, celebrating the ways they help people afford life. LSCU’s affiliated credit unions were lauded for their efforts in three categories of the awards: the Desjardins Youth Financial Education Awards, the Louise Herring Awards and the Dora Maxwell Awards. The national awards, which are given in several credit union asset sizes, were selected among the winning entries at a league level.
VyStar Credit Union, based in Jacksonville, Fla, won first place in the category of more than $1 billion in assets for the Desjardins Youth Financial Education Award. Delta Community Credit Union in Atlanta, Ga., was the second-place winner in the same size category.
The Desjardins Youth Awards honor credit unions, chapters and leagues for their commitment to both youth and adult financial literacy.
A brief history lesson: The Desjardins Awards are named after Alphonse Desjardins, the founder of the North American credit union movement. Besides founding the first credit unions in Canada and the U.S., Desjardins pioneered youth savings clubs and in-school “banks,” known as caisses scolaires. He established caisse populaires, cooperative savings and loan companies, to encourage the working classes to save and plan for the future and provided the credit they needed for economic recovery.
Associated Credit Union in Norcross, Ga, won second place in the Louise Herring category for credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets. The Herring award is given to a credit union demonstrating the internal application of credit union philosophy to help better financial matters and increase financial education for its members.
A brief history lesson: Louise Herring was an original signer of CUNA’s constitution when she was an Ohio delegate to the 1934 national credit union conference in Estes Park, Colo. She saw credit unions as more than just financial institutions and believed they should work to better people’s lives.
Georgia United CU in Duluth, Ga, received honorable mention for the Dora Maxwell Award in the category of more than $1 billion in assets. The Dora Maxwell Award is presented to credit unions for outstanding social responsibility projects in their communities.
A brief history lesson: Dora Maxwell was an original signer of CUNA’s constitution and a tireless organizer of hundreds of credit unions throughout the United States. She also developed volunteer organizer clubs and worked diligently with organizations on behalf of the poor.
Winning credit unions will be recognized at CUNA’s 2019 Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC), Feb. 23 – 27, in Washington, D.C. Check out upcoming issues of LSCU Today for more details on the programs that won these credit unions their national award recognition.
