UnBankingUnBelievable

You may have noticed that the past few blog posts here at thinknorthwest have been related to our community – what our community has to offer and how we’re involved in it.

I have one last community-related post for you today in hopes that you’ll want to jump on board and help us serve a great need in our town.

The Open Door Home is an organization in Rome “providing for the needs of the dependent, neglected, and/or abused children of Northwest Georgia and helping them to live a healthier, happier and more productive life.”  That’s all according to their website, but according to what I’ve seen – they make a fantastic impact on kids in our area.

Since our credit union pushes education in every way possible, we get excited at the start of every school year to help out these Open Door kids! They are always in need of back-to-school supplies before that nerve-wracking first day of school in August! 

To be sure these kids are totally prepared we hold a school supply drive right here at the credit union. Employees and members drop off anything and everything related to back-to-school supplies.

• Backpacks
• Notebooks
• Pens
• Pencils
• Pencil Boxes
• Glue Sticks
• Markers
• Colored Pencils
• Paper

And the list goes on…

So as you are back-to-school shopping with your kids this year, remember this great organization and pick up a few extra supplies. We’ll let you know as soon as we have the drop-off boxes in our lobbies.

A few years back you may have known our credit union as ‘The Teacher’s Credit Union’. And that’s exactly what we were…and are. We are a credit union that was created for teachers in 1961. Of course we have grown and expanded our membership since then, but roots are roots.

Teachers are our people and we do a lot in our schools to show our support of education in our town. Here a few examples:

• Embark!  – A fantastic curriculum for students from grades K-12 created by the credit union to teach financial literacy in the schools.
• Teacher appreciation Week – This is a busy week at the credit union! Giving out special goodies to our teachers – things like coupons for loan discounts, all kinds of food, or free money!
  • Our partners-in-education get special treatment during Teacher Appreciation Week – more food, useful items for the school, or more food…you get the idea.
• The Brown Bag Luncheon – You may remember this tradition as the Red Apple Luncheon, but whatever you call it, it’s the lunch that we sponsor to welcome new teachers to our schools every year.  
• Classroom Grant – We offered teachers the chance to earn some extra money for their classroom this year. We found three spectacular winning teachers.

We also offer financial literacy resources for teachers on our website. You could say that financial literacy pretty much sums up what we’re about – finances and education. Put them together and we’re one unbelievable credit union!

This past Saturday the 12th was the first Classic Car Cruise-In of the summer, and there’s just one word to summarize the evening:

HOT.

Despite the balmy 98 degree temperatures, we had a blast as a top sponsor. Kelly, Leslie, Emily and I pitched our tent and spent the evening handing out coupons, giving away Visa gift cards, handing out our brand new Un-banking car stickers, and our most popular gift of the night, fans. Our fans-on-a-stick were all the rage. See? We’re thinking forward, not to help you have just a better day, but a better life. (Shameless plug for our radio ad now over.)

We saw lots of members, like Mr. Pullen, who was helping the masses by selling bottled water for the Rome-Floyd Commission on Children & Youth. We also met lots of people who said they were ready to open an account with us, and that just made our little heat-stroked hearts melt.

The next Classic Car Cruise-In is July 10 on First Street. There will more live music, more classic cars, more food, and yes, more NWGACU fans-on-a-stick.

For the past 20 years (or so), the Public Works Department has offered their hard-working employees a picnic at the park. Tiffany, Robin, and I were fortunate enough to attend their annual shindig last month and we loved it!

Thanks for having us, Public Works friends!

After everyone enjoyed their fabulous meal and  played horseshoes, it was time for door prizes!

Northwest Georgia Credit Union donated two VISA gift cards and one really good book to the pile of door prizes.

One lucky winner went home with Dave Ramsey’s “The Total Money Makeover“.

 We love this book and hope that our lucky winner is learning all kinds of things about money from Dave Ramsey. Click the link if you aren’t familiar. It will change your financial life!