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KCUA’s Annual Meeting and Convention Features Make a Difference Opportunities

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:53:33 GMT

Fill your neighbor’s water glass, tell a credit union board member or volunteer you appreciate their service to credit unions, pay someone a compliment, randomly offer a high five….these were just a few of the ways attendees at this year’s KCUA Annual Meeting and Convention were able to make a difference during their convention experience.

Throughout the convention, attendees had an opportunity to see first-hand how credit unions make a difference for their members, their communities and for each other. Easels highlighting credit union contributions to their communities as well as state-wide efforts lined the foyers of the hotel and convention center. A Make a Difference booth in the exhibit hall gave attendees the opportunity to write on easels how their credit union has made a difference this past year and a video highlighting other make a difference events and contributions featuring Kansas credit unions was featured at the awards banquet.

Probably the most memorable opportunity for attendees was the "you choose the charity” promotion by the YES Committee. Each attendee was given two $1.00 bills at registration and encouraged to donate those dollars, plus any additional dollars they would like to personally donate, to one of four charities of their choice.

A total of $774 was collected for the following charities:

$237 - Children’s Miracle Network
$206 - Make a Wish Foundation
$182 - The Red Cross
$149 – The Salvation Army

CUNA Mutual Group generously matched the donations, bringing the total to more than $1,500 to make a difference in the lives of Kansans.

View more about the 2013 Annual Meeting and Convention, including award winners, photos and videos.

Final Updates for KCUA’s Annual Meeting & Convention

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:42:01 GMT

The KCUA Annual Meeting and Convention is just around the corner. We hope you will join us in Topeka next week for our premiere credit union event featuring golf, exhibit hall showcases, education breakouts, award recognition and networking.

Governor Brownback to Address Kansas Credit Unions
KCUA is pleased to announce that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback will be joining us at the Governmental Affairs Luncheon on Saturday, April 20 as our guest speaker.

Change in KCUA Business Meeting Featured Speaker
Keith Morton, NCUA Regional Director for the Region IV office is unable to speak at the KCUA Business Meeting on Friday, April 19. In his place, Tracy Bombarger, Associate Regional Director for Operations (ARDO) will cover what NCUA sees as key examination issues for this region and any anticipated regulatory changes credit unions can expect to see in the next year. Tracy began her career with NCUA as an examiner in the tumbleweed turf of Amarillo, Texas in January of 1992. She served as a Supervision Analyst with the region and a Program Officer in the Office of Examination and Insurance prior to moving into management in 2003. She spent four years as the Director of Supervision and held the role of Director of Special Actions for three years before obtaining the ARDO position.

Education Session Handouts:
In an effort to be environmentally friendly, handouts for Friday and Saturday education sessions can be downloaded and printed prior to the convention at Download Handouts. Handouts will be available on Friday, April 12. KCUA will not be providing paper handouts at the sessions. Please note: Handouts for volunteer breakout sessions WILL be available at the convention.

Day at the Capitol 2013

Mon, 4 Feb 2013 21:47:30 GMT

CUnext Young Professionals members
meet with Senator Rob Olson and
Representative Pete DeGraaf

Legislative Leadership Panel.
Moderated by John Federico.

More than 150 credit union staff and volunteers from 31 credit unions in Kansas participated in KCUA’s annual Day at the Capitol.

Top issues for this year include the reminder that Kansas credit unions are generally health and well capitalized, and continue to lend and serve their members. However, credit unions are concerned about the impact that increasing regulatory burden and compliance costs, namely those associated with the Dodd-Frank Act and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, will have on their organization.

Our CUnext Young Professional’s Council was honored with a private question and answer session with Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Chairman Senator Rob Olson and House Financial Institutions Committee Chairman Representative Pete DeGraaf. Topics of interest included how to get involved and make a difference at the city, county and state level, and the path a bill or legislation takes to get passed in both the House and the Senate.

Before the evening reception, credit unions heard from a Legislative Leadership Panel consisting of Speaker of the House Ray Merrick, House Minority Leader Paul Davis, Senate President Susan Wagle, and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley.

View more photos on Flickr.

Annual Meeting & Convention 2013

Mon, 4 Feb 2013 19:47:40 GMT

KCUA’s Annual Meeting & Convention will be in Topeka April 18-20. Don’t miss this annual event which includes networking and training opportunities, plus a great selection of speakers.

Friday Keynote and General Session
Our Friday Keynote Address features Lieutenant Colonel Rob Darling who will take us "Inside the President’s Bunker” during 9/11 as he provided his military expertise and became a liaison between the Vice President, National Security Advisor and the Pentagon. Lieutenant Colonel Darling witnessed first- hand the enormity of the crisis leadership decisions made that day on behalf of all Americans.

John Tippet’s General Session on Friday will warm your heart with an inspirational story about famed Alaska bush pilot Harold Gillam and his flight from Seattle, WA to Alaska back in 1943. The plane crashed in the Alaska wilderness about 30 miles from his intended refueling stop at Annette Island. Gillam and his five passengers all survived the crash. Four of the six persons survived 29 days in the wilderness before being rescued. Hearts of Courage is a survival story beyond belief.

Reminder:
Deadline for Professional and Volunteer of the Year awards has been extended to Feb. 15.
View complete information, including nomination forms and list of past award winners.

New for the 2013 Annual Meeting & Convention:
Retirement Reality Fair: The National Credit Union Foundation’s REAL Solutions Program in cooperation with the CUNA Mutual Group has developed a new Retirement Reality Fair to assist credit unions in helping their members and staff better prepare for retirement.

Connection Center: Relax and enjoy networking with your peers in this specially designed lounge for convention attendees.

Young Professionals Jam Session: Idea sharing is one of the most important assets we have as credit union collaborators. Through an open dialogue approach, participants will become their own best resource, as they work as a group to collectively find solutions for the challenges we all face.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE video showcase: Show how your credit union has made a difference for a member, in your community, etc…and your name will be entered into a drawing to win $250 to make a difference in your community. No video? No problem! Send us a few photos and we’ll put a video together for you. Complete details here (pdf)

Annual Meeting home page

Credit Union Youth Week 2012

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:04:44 GMT

Kansas Youth Save $75,000 during Youth Savings Week

Kansas youth saved more than $75,000 during April as part of Credit Union Youth Week 2012. Six Kansas credit unions reported 626 youth made deposits, and 53 new youth accounts were opened.

Here’s what some of our state’s credit unions did to promote youth saving and financial literacy.
View photos.

McPherson CO-OP Credit Union
McPherson CO-OP Credit Union underestimated how many kids would come see RF Alexander The Great, a miniature horse. The horse donned a superhero costume and entertained youth and their parents.

The credit union ran out of Super cookies, pop and prizes.

"We had more kids in one day than we usually have in the whole week,” reported McPherson CO-OP. "They deposited more than $14,000 in one week, and we’re a closed credit union! It was awesome.”

They also opened 18 new accounts.

Farmway Credit Union
Two Farmway Credit Union employees went to both of the Beloit Schools and talked to the kindergarten thru third grade classrooms about savings. Each student received an activity book.

During Credit Union Youth Week, Farmway CU provided snow cones and popcorn for the children to enjoy while they played a game for money.

"It was a fun week…children received treats, money or prize and left with a big smile,” reported Farmway CU.

River Cities Community Credit Union
On Monday, River Cities Community Credit Union had a member of the community dress up like a superhero and help kids come in to make deposits, resisting the evil tempters of spending (two members at the door). The credit union played super hero movies all week and had refreshments and goodie bags.

Kansas State University Federal Credit Union
K-State Federal Credit Union chose to celebrate Youth Savings the entire month of April. The credit union was decorated with lightning bolts, window paint and cardboard cutout super heroes (Wonder Woman was certainly an attention getter!). The credit union held several contests for youth up to 18 years old including:

Super Hero Day: Any youth (0-18 years) opening an account or depositing $25.00 to their existing account on Saturday April 28, received a $5.00 bonus deposit from K-State FCU.
Costume Contest: Held on Saturday, April 28, kids (1-6 years) were encouraged to come dressed as their favorite super hero and have their picture taken with super heroes at the credit union - Spiderman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman or Captain America. Not to exclude children who didn’t have a costume, K-State FCU supplied a cape, mask and gloves for them to wear for pictures. Best dressed super hero received a $25.00 deposit to their account
Comic Strip Contest: Kids (7-12 years) could draw comic book strips depicting "super savings.” Winning comic strip entry received a $40.00 Visa gift card.
Commercial Contest: Youth (13-18 years) could create a YouTube video or radio commercial depicting "super savings.” Winning video/commercial received $50.00 Visa gift card.
Save@School Challenge: During the month of April, K-State FCU also had their Ice Cream Savings Challenge between the schools that participate in the Save@School program. Schools competed to see which students could save the most money. The winning school, Riley County Grade School. was rewarded with ice cream treats for the entire student body.

K-State Federal Credit Union partnered with the Kansas State Treasurer’s office in 2004 for the Save@School program. Currently, six elementary schools participate in the program, which combines money management lessons and real life financial experience of having a savings account. Combined, the six participating schools saved a total of $5,963.96 throughout this school year.

Nationwide
Nationwide, 241 credit unions participated in Credit Union Youth Week. Deposits from 125,867 youth resulted in 7,300 new accounts and total deposit of more than $21 million!

The average deposit per child was $169, compared to $196 per child last year.

Next year, National Credit Union Youth Week will be held April 21-27, 2013, and the Saving Challenge will run the entire month of April.

State Record for Miracle Jeans Day Participation!

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:53:05 GMT

State Record for Miracle Jeans Day Participation!

KCUA is proud to have 13 Kansas credit unions supporting Children Miracle Network by participating in Miracle Jeans Day. We surpassed our previous participation record of by five credit unions. And there’s still time to sign up for the September 12th event.

This simple fundraiser is a great way to raise money for your local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital – with little work and no cost to your credit union.

The credit unions listed below brought us up to 14 participating organizations. KCUA has also registered and will be participating.

Frontier Community Credit Union
Golden Plains Credit Union
Medical Community Credit Union
Midwest Regional Credit Union
TECU Credit Union
Central Kansas Credit Union
Cessna Employees Credit Union
Credit Union of Dodge City
Dillon Credit Union
Freedom 1st Credit Union
Mainstreet Credit Union
Mid American Credit Union
Wichita Federal Credit Union

By participating, you are helping children in these Kansas hospitals:
KU Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
St. Francis Health Center, Topeka, KS
Via Christi Hospitals in Wichita, Wichita, KS

Visit www.cu4kids.org/MiracleJeansDay for complete details.