Scott Credit Union Continues to Support Community During Pandemic

Edwardsville, IL - Over the past 12 years, Scott Credit Union showed its support for the community by donating nearly $3.7 million, and its employees have volunteered nearly 24,000 hours to a variety of local civic efforts throughout the region. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Scott Credit Union has continued demonstrating its commitment to community through volunteer hours and donations.

SCU offers its staff a Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP), which gives employees a chance to earn prizes for volunteering. Typically, the majority of SCU’s volunteer hours come from employees helping at community events, and the credit union had planned to attend more than 200 in 2020. However, plans changed when the pandemic hit.

“Almost all local organizations canceled their events, but we knew there would be other ways our employees could stay involved in the community,” said Carol Wylie, Scott Credit Union Community Relations Supervisor. “Now more than ever, our community needs support. We had to get creative to find ways to offer help while still protecting the health and safety of our employees.”

To help the community cope with the unique difficulties and stressors brought about by the pandemic, SCU employees volunteered in a variety of ways, including:

• sending cards of encouragement to health care workers and nursing home residents

• recording themselves reading stories for Edwardsville Children’s Museum

• driving SCU’s Hummer vehicle in the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Area Chamber of Commerce’s car parade to thank health care workers

• making homemade masks for the Illinois Center for Autism

Scott Credit Union’s top volunteer of 2020 was Sarah Robinson. She volunteered 22 hours of her own time to various endeavors.

“Sarah’s dedication to volunteerism is inspiring,” said Wylie. “She’s so enthusiastic that she even volunteered for an event during her very first week on the job!”

In addition to its socially distanced volunteer activities, Scott Credit Union helped the community by hosting collection sites for homemade mask donations at its East Belleville, Fairview Heights, and O’Fallon branches in spring 2020. More than 1,000 masks were collected for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon.

Scott Credit Union has supported many regional and local projects in and around the communities in which it has branches, Wylie noted. A total of $286,000 was donated in 2020 to a variety of community partners.

“Last year, we donated $11,000 to the Gateway Region YMCA and $10,000 to the GlenEd Sports Association. We also continued our five-year pledge of $50,000 per year for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital,” said Wylie.

Showing support for members of the military community is also important to Scott Credit Union, which opened its first location at Scott Air Force Base in 1943. The credit union contributed $7,100 to the 375th Force Support Squadron; $5,000 to the 126th Air Refueling Wing; and $3,500 to Inspire Up Foundation, which supports military personnel, first responders, and their families.

In 2020, SCU also donated $5,000 to the Edwardsville Children’s Museum; $3,000 to the Special Olympics Illinois, and $3,000 to the Illinois Center for Autism.

“The concept of ‘people helping people’ is what credit unions are all about,” said Wylie. “We’re proud to help our community, especially in challenging times such as these.”

Scott Credit Union is a full-service financial cooperative. When someone opens an account at the credit union, they become a member and an owner. Because of its structure, Scott Credit Union has given back nearly $13 million to members through a bonus dividend and loan interest rebate over the past 13 years.

Scott Credit Union currently has 20 area locations: Affton, MO; Ballpark Village in St. Louis, MO; Belleville, IL (two branches); Collinsville, IL; Columbia, IL; Crestwood, MO; Edwardsville, IL (two branches); Fairview Heights, IL; Ferguson, MO; Highland, IL; Ladue, MO; Lebanon, IL; Mascoutah, IL; O’Fallon, IL; Troy, IL; Scott Air Force Base in Illinois; Waterloo, IL; and Wood River, IL.

For details on opening accounts at Scott Credit Union, visit www.scu.org.