Credit Union Gets Ugly for "Santa Cause" and Raises $7,200
January 14, 2014
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Photo: Employees at Community First Credit Union (Appleton, Wis.) donned their gaudiest Christmas sweaters for a two-day fundraiser dubbed Ugly Sweater Santa Cause in mid-December to benefit local nonprofits. Each of CFCUs 20 branches in Northeastern Wisconsin chose a local charity to encourage member/owners to donate to and they responded, raising over $7,200 for 15 different nonprofits.
Ugly Christmas sweaters were turned into something beautiful in just two days for 15 nonprofit organizations throughout Northeast Wisconsin thanks to the generosity of member/owners at Community First Credit Union.
When tellers at the CFCU Manitowoc branch started to organize an Ugly Sweater fundraiser on behalf of the Lakeshore Humane Society, the idea took root and spread to all 20 CFCU full-service branches.
"The tellers decided it would be fun to wear ugly sweaters and seek to raise money for the shelter," said Carrie Pleasant, branch manager at Manitowoc, which raised almost $515 plus collected donations of pet food and other items for the shelter. "Members were excited and employees were excited. We more than doubled our goal."
In less than two days, CFCU employees/member-owners raised more than $7,200 for the charities hand-picked by each branch for the "Ugly Sweater Santa Cause" fundraiser.
"That is just amazing," said Kevin Hartz, senior vice president/branch operations. "Manitowoc asked to do it on their own. We said, Its a great idea. Lets do it company-wide. They all got to pick their own charity so that was a big plus."
Three Neenah branches combined to raise $1,569 for the Neenah Animal Shelter while three other branches collaborated to collect $1,358 for the Fox Valley Human Society. Just over $700 and $500 were donated to food pantries in Menasha and Greenville, respectively. Another $547 was raised for an Appleton homeless shelter and $432 for a domestic abuse shelter in Grand Chute.
"A huge thank you goes out to everyone that donated and/or collected donations," Hartz said. "Im sure the organizations receiving these funds will have great appreciation for your efforts."
Community First Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative serving more than 106,000 member/owners in Northeastern Wisconsin. CFCU operates 20 full-service branches, eight non-traditional branches and has assets totaling over $1.98 billion.
Photo: Employees at Community First Credit Union (Appleton, Wis.) donned their gaudiest Christmas sweaters for a two-day fundraiser dubbed Ugly Sweater Santa Cause in mid-December to benefit local nonprofits. Each of CFCUs 20 branches in Northeastern Wisconsin chose a local charity to encourage member/owners to donate to and they responded, raising over $7,200 for 15 different nonprofits.
Ugly Christmas sweaters were turned into something beautiful in just two days for 15 nonprofit organizations throughout Northeast Wisconsin thanks to the generosity of member/owners at Community First Credit Union.
When tellers at the CFCU Manitowoc branch started to organize an Ugly Sweater fundraiser on behalf of the Lakeshore Humane Society, the idea took root and spread to all 20 CFCU full-service branches.
"The tellers decided it would be fun to wear ugly sweaters and seek to raise money for the shelter," said Carrie Pleasant, branch manager at Manitowoc, which raised almost $515 plus collected donations of pet food and other items for the shelter. "Members were excited and employees were excited. We more than doubled our goal."
In less than two days, CFCU employees/member-owners raised more than $7,200 for the charities hand-picked by each branch for the "Ugly Sweater Santa Cause" fundraiser.
"That is just amazing," said Kevin Hartz, senior vice president/branch operations. "Manitowoc asked to do it on their own. We said, Its a great idea. Lets do it company-wide. They all got to pick their own charity so that was a big plus."
Three Neenah branches combined to raise $1,569 for the Neenah Animal Shelter while three other branches collaborated to collect $1,358 for the Fox Valley Human Society. Just over $700 and $500 were donated to food pantries in Menasha and Greenville, respectively. Another $547 was raised for an Appleton homeless shelter and $432 for a domestic abuse shelter in Grand Chute.
"A huge thank you goes out to everyone that donated and/or collected donations," Hartz said. "Im sure the organizations receiving these funds will have great appreciation for your efforts."
Community First Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative serving more than 106,000 member/owners in Northeastern Wisconsin. CFCU operates 20 full-service branches, eight non-traditional branches and has assets totaling over $1.98 billion.