Waynesboro: Credit union wins three state awards

Staff Report

The Waynesboro-based DuPont Community Credit Union has won three community service awards in competitions sponsored by the Virginia Credit Union League and the Credit Union National Association.

DCCU earned a first-place award in the Desjardins Youth Financial Education Awards, which honor credit unions for their commitment to teaching personal finance basics to young people. The credit union reached 4,702 students with financial-education lessons during the 2007-2008 school year; its “Get it in Gear” program teaches young people about buying and financing a vehicle; and its “MileStones Gifting Program” is helping more than 880 young people save for the future.

The credit union’s overdraft privilege education program, which the credit union launched to help members avoid overdraft fees through financial education, earned the credit union second-place honors in the Louise Herring Award for Philosophy in Action competition. The competition salutes credit unions for their practical application of the “People Helping People” philosophy that is the hallmark of the credit union movement.

DCCU won another second-place award in the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Recognition Awards, which recognize credit unions for their involvement in community projects and activities. A partnership with the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank – which serves 11 counties and cities in the Central Shenandoah Valley – saw the credit union collect almost two-and-a-half tons of food for the Food Bank and it used a series of innovative projects to raise funds for Food Bank Programs, contributing more than $9,000.

“We’re proud to serve the community we call home,” says DuPont Community Credit Union president and CEO Gerald Hershey. “Whether it’s helping our members better manage their finances, teaching kids about personal finance or helping ensure those in need have food on the table, we believe strongly in our obligation to be an exemplary corporate citizen and practice credit unions’ philosophy of ‘People Helping People.'”