Unitus Community Credit Union Focuses on Giving to Conclude 2022
Posted by Ben Shuey on January 3, 2023
Six local nonprofit organizations will benefit from Unitus Community Credit Union’s Holiday Drive and member giving this holiday season. Blanchet House, Christmas for Kids, SnowCap Community Charities, and Sunshine Division were selected as the beneficiaries of this year’s Holiday Drive fundraiser. Unitus branches also hosted food and fund drives for Clark County Food Bank, Marion Polk Food Share, and Sunshine Division. In total, these six nonprofits will receive $13,232 in financial gifts from Unitus and holiday drive donations.
In addition to supporting these nonprofits, Unitus also offered a special 2:1 match for employees as part of its Holiday Drive this year. The campaign—which kicked off on Giving Tuesday—doubled any donation Unitus employees made to the nonprofit(s) of their choosing up to $10,000. Altogether, Unitus matched $6,528 in response to $3,264 in donations, resulting in $9,792 going directly to causes employees are passionate about. Combined with the additional food and fund drive gifts, this culminated in $23,024 in 2022 holiday giving.
Every organization from Unitus’ Holiday Food Drive provides food relief to economically disadvantaged individuals and families while working to alleviate hunger and its root causes. Each organization provides its own unique community services, many including food relief, as well as additional services such as clothing closets and shopping experiences (SnowCap and Blanchet House), in-house dining and services to the unhoused community (Blanchet House), at-home food box delivery (Sunshine Division), and warm clothing and essential items for children in need this holiday season (Christmas for Kids).
In addition to supporting these nonprofits, each Unitus branch donated $1,000 to selected community partners. This year, each branch supported nonprofits that work to support hunger and food insecurity, community gardens, survivors of traumatic events and human trafficking, the LGBTQIA+ community, artists with intellectual/developmental disabilities, parent-teacher organizations, day laborers and immigrants, foster families, and children impacted by childhood cancer. You can read about the impact our Branch Community Program has on local organizations at unitusccu.com/community.
“We’re beyond grateful to our many partners who work tirelessly to provide essential, needed services to our community,” said Steve Stapp, President and CEO of Unitus. “It’s because of the direct community work each of these nonprofits provides—along with our members and employees — that the donations and volunteerism we contributed were able to achieve meaningful impact. Being able to play a small role in the success of our partners and community is an honor.”
In total, Unitus Community Credit Union donated $456,000 in 2022, keeping with its high-level commitment to the communities, individuals, and families it serves. The Portland Business Journal recognized Unitus earlier this year as the third most philanthropic large company in Portland and with an Innovation in Philanthropy award for its partnership with AWARE Food Bank.
Posted in Oregon, Regional Member News.