NEW Community Shelter

In 1994 The NEW Community Shelter opened it’s doors  in Green Bay, WI.  Since then they have had 2 successful capital campaigns that enabled them to move to their present location at 301 Mather St in Green Bay and then doubled the size of their kitchen/serving area!  They provide emergency shelter for adult men and women and a wide variety of programs to help them get back on their feet.  They have programs for everything from job hunting to clothing and haircuts to addiction counseling.  They are the only emergency shelter program in this area open year round.

The shelter also provides meals to any child or adult in need.  This service is available to anyone  – not just their residents.  They only ask for peaceful behavior and sobriety.  I’ve helped serve meals at the shelter and it is an amazing experience!  You meet not only residents of the shelter but also
families who just need a hot meal to stretch their budget.  They serve dinner everyday from 5 pm to 6pm, and they also serve lunches from 11:30am to 12:30pm on weekends and every holiday.  On average their evening meal serves over 200 people!

They are always looking for donations of money or ‘ things’, visit their website at www.newcommunityshelter.org or contact Mercedes at 437-3766 ext 111 for further information and their current wish list.

The NEW Community Shelter is a caring, supportive environment for those in need.

Post by: Mary D

Gividends - giving has never been so easy!

Sometimes donating to a charity of choice can be a long and stressful process. First you have to pick a charity you wish to contribute to, then you have to decide how much and how often you would like to donate, and finally you have to hold yourself accountable for those funds and keeping track!

Well enough of all that work, HCCU is coming to the rescue! Beginning January of 2015, we are rolling out a GREAT new program that makes donating simple! Each month all depository accounts, such as a savings, club or money market, receive dividends. This new program is designed to automatically withdraw these dividends for you after they are posted, and donate them to a charity of your choice! We have a list of 10 great local & national charities to pick from, including Bay Area Humane Society, House of Hope, Beacon House, and Paul’s Pantry.  Every little bit helps, and if we all pool our dividends, just think of the difference we can make in our community!

I know setting this up may seem like a lot of effort as well, but really it’s simple! Stop in to either of the HCCU branches and speak with an MSR!  It’s as easy as filling out a quick enrollment form that tells us which charity you would like to donate to, what percentage of your dividends, and from which account.  From there, we take care of everything!  And when it comes to tax time, you can see the dividends you earned as well as your donations on your monthly statements, so keeping track is super easy!

Let’s kick off 2015 the right way, and start donating to our local community!

Post by: Emily P

The Credit Union Difference

There are tons of reasons to love your credit union!  Credit unions are a really unique business, and by belonging to a CU, you’re a part of something pretty cool.  Credit unions are member-owned financial cooperatives.  This means that as a member of the credit union, you’re also an owner.  You get a say in how we do things here!  Your credit union is run by a volunteer board of directors that is elected by the membership (that’s you!) in a democratic process – each member has one vote.  Our board members are also members of the credit union, so they have a unique interest in seeing the credit union succeed and grow.  They are also members of our local community, so they understand what it is like to live, work, and transact business in northeast Wisconsin. 

Credit unions are also not-for-profit.  Money that we make is returned to the membership in the form of higher deposit rates, lower loan rates, and lower fees.  So all that means is rather than pad the pockets of a handful of stakeholders, we pay our dividends to you, and pad YOUR pockets.  During the recession of 2008, credit unions as a group fared much better than the bigger banks, because credit unions had been doing business responsibly all along. 

You may have also heard it said that credit unions are "for people, not profits”.  “People helping people” is the credit union philosophy.  It is the principle on which all credit unions were founded, and it is how credit unions still do business today.  This is brought to life when we lend a member $500 to fill their propane tank for the winter, or when we help a member devise a plan to pay off medical debt from an illness.  On a broader level, we live this philosophy by offering financial education to our members and communities, participating in charity events, and sponsoring community events, in addition to serving the needs of our members.

       

To learn more about the credit union difference, visit www.asmarterchoice.org or the Wisconsin Credit Union Scorecard.

Tis the Season - the Bells are Ringing!!

I heard (and saw) my first Red Kettle ringer yesterday at Festival.  Tis the season for the red kettle’s to come out and start raising money for the less fortunate families in our area.

In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee started the first kettle in San Francisco.  He was able to raise enough money to feed many needy families in that area.  Today in the U.S., The Salvation Army assists more than four and a half million people during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time periods. 

The Red Kettle Kickoff is just the beginning of an exciting Christmas season for The Salvation Army. In addition to the more than 25,000 Red Kettles located in storefronts and on street corners nationwide, there will be other ways for the public to get involved. 

For you mobile people out there, text the word “KETTLE” to 80888 and reply “YES” to donate $10.00.

You can also go to the website www.ringbells.org to sign up to ring bells at area businesses.  The Salvation Army has a list of businesses in the Green Bay, DePere, Howard-Suamico areas to choose from, starting with 2 hour periods of bell ringing.

I know everyone is busy during the holiday season, but it’s something the whole family can do together.  Plus, think about how good it would make you feel to know that you have helped out with this great cause!

Posted by: Karen S.

Happy International Credit Union Day!

International Credit Union Day has been celebrated since 1948.  The day was started to reflect on the history of credit unions and to promote our achievements.  It is meant to honor those who have dedicated their lives to the credit union movement and to bettering the lives of our credit union members worldwide.

This year's theme for the day is "Local Service, Global Good", and while we aim to live that mission every day, we wanted to do a little something extra today at Horizon Community Credit Union.  HCCU staff and members spent the morning putting together lunches for area non-profits, to be given to the people they serve and their volunteers.  

We would like to give a big thanks to those who helped us prepare the lunches, and to the volunteer and non-profit organizations in the area for the work that they do to improve our community.  

Volunteering……an opportunity to give back!

Helping others can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. You can do cleanup work for an elderly person, coach youth sports, aid in a building project, serve on a board of directors, work fun community events and more. There's almost no limit to the opportunities open to you as a volunteer, and most of it may not require you to have any prior experience (but it can if you would prefer). Here are some things to consider before diving in.

Before you get started, think about why you want to volunteer. Do you want to meet new people? Could the volunteer work enable you to spend time doing something you enjoy? Do you have a cause that is near and dear to your heart?

When you are clear on the why, think about what you could do, where you might want to do it, would you rather work individually or in a group, and available times to do it.

There are many resources that can help you in your search. Start with friends, family and co-workers. They may know of organizations that would interest you, maybe even ones that would allow you to work with them. Contact local volunteer agencies; they often have a large list of possibilities. You can search for them on-line. One such place is VolunteerMatch (http://www.volunteermatch.org) it lets you search for projects by your city or Zip code, as well as keywords (such as "environment" or "mentoring") that describe what you want to do. For a list of volunteer opportunities locally, check out The Volunteer Center of Brown County (http://www.volunteergb.org/).

Once you have found a likely group or organization, you will want to call to learn more about volunteer opportunities. In order to assure yourself you made the right choice, schedule a visit and take a tour of the organization. They may even ask you to interview. Don’t be nervous, your new role will be an important one.

Volunteering can be a great opportunity to step outside the routine of your daily life. You have a lot to offer, so try to find the place that's right for you and start making a difference!

Post by: Pat J