CUaware Triad held a fundraising event called CUdowntown, an 80s
themed tour of local restaurants and bars in downtown Winston-Salem. One hundred percent of the proceeds from this event benefited the iCan House, a non-profit organization in Winston-Salem, NC that provides educational resources and social interaction opportunities to those who live with social challenges. 25 people signed up for the event, dressed in 80s fashion and raised a total of $450.

“I’m happy to see how CUaware has brought local credit unions together to make us all aware of the credit union industry’s value, connect the vast credit union employee network in Winston-Salem, and support the community where we work and live,” said Jessica Dillon, Chair of CUaware’s Triad Chapter and
Quality/Compliance Supervisor for Piedmont Advantage CU.

The tour began at 5 PM with free food, games and 80s trivia at
Foothills Brewery on Fourth Street in Winston-Salem. At seven o’clock it moved to Bulls Tavern, four doors down from Foothills, where contestants we quizzed during a 80s trivia contest. Dirk Spainhour of Summit CU won the trivia contest and received a $50 gift card to amazon.com.  

“It really was fun to take a step back and try to remember things from the 80s,” remarked Spainhour. “This proved that all my TV watching really paid off!”

In addition to participating in an 80s trivia contest, everyone who registered and attended received a CUaware wristband, a Summit CU can huggie, and a ticket to enter a raffle for Foothills Beer School Tickets. An 80s costume contest took place at The District Rooftop Bar and Grill, the third destination of the tour. The winner was Catherine Jones who called her look, “Fluffy Cyndi Lauper.” Her prize was a $50 iTunes gift card. The second place prize for both trivia and the costume contest was a $25 VISA gift card and the third place was a CUaware T-shirt.


Prizes for the event were donated by CRI Solutions, Ensemble, Foothills Brewing, Members CU, and Summit CU. Bulls Tavern donated 10% of their proceeds between 7PM and 9 PM to the iCan House. CUaware plans to make the CUdowntown tour an annual charity event in both the Triad and Triangle regions. 

Project Back Pack is off to a great start!! CUaware Triad packed over 50 back packs with essential items for the homeless at our March social.  Great times, appetizers, and drinks were had by 27 credit union folks from Members CU, Piedmont Advantage CU, Summit CU, and Winston Salem Federal CU.  Back packs will be distributed to the homeless on April 7th.  If you would like to donate to Project Back Pack or participate in the distribution, please contact Carla at carlak@memcu.com. 

The Operating Principle of Concern for Community was uniquely followed on Saturday, Oct 27.  Six volunteers and seven runners from CUaware participated in the Color Me Rad 5k in Raleigh. Proceeds went to benefit the Special Olympics of NC, so the fun race had an impact as well. There were 9,000 registrants running through a course that had Color Bomb Stations manned by volunteers hurling packets of colored cornstarch powder or spraying color infused water on runners. The CUaware station was the green one, and that was easily the most dominant color on runners. Very proud that our group went out and helped despite the rain worries. It was a great event that we will definitely look forward to doing again next year!

Runners: Amanda, Ashley, Brad, Brandon, Jeremy, Joe and Stephanie

Volunteers: Dan, Danielle, Patrick, Sharon, Shelly and Teresa

Event: Raleigh Rescue Mission, August 25, 2012

This event post will be a bit different then previous post. In the past, we simply stated what occurred during the event, how much fun we had and invited you to join us. In this post, I want to mention the credit union principles and philosophies and how we are using our hands to demonstrate what our mouths speak. In our volunteer efforts, we are showing care for our community. We have worked hard to develop a good rapport with the staff and we want to make sure that when they think “credit union,” they think “CUaware.” 

We are receiving appreciation from the Raleigh Rescue Mission staff. When we arrive, the staff is happy to see us. We hear comments like “Y’all rock!” “I’m so glad you’re here!” and “Thanks for coming to help us!” They know that we are hard working, fun and able to get the job done. What they don’t know is that we are from different credit unions with different visions and corporate goals. CUaware sets that aside to practice cooperation among cooperatives. We aren’t Coastal and Local Government and State Employees at our events; we are simply Credit Unions.  The comment I love the most is always “See you next time!” That’s making a difference.

The most important pieces of the RRM event are the residents.  Every time we are there, they thank us, profusely and sincerely. But this past Saturday, they remembered us. The fact that we’ve made enough of an impact with our service that the residents recognize the name “CUaware” is a huge thing.  Here is some perspective for you: the residents are served 3 meals a day, 7 days a week and since we’ve started volunteering in February, they have had 462 opportunities to be served by other organizations… We’ve been there 3 times and they remember us? That’s making a difference.

So far all of the past CUaware volunteers, thank you! Thank you for taking the time out of you busy lives and pouring that into someone else. Thank you for being willing to work for someone else and experience something new. Thank you for realizing the value of a smile and how far kindness can go. Thank you for being willing to grow.

And for those who haven’t made it out yet, I invite you to share this experience. Walk the talk and use your hands to demonstrate what your mouth speaks. I promise it’ll be fun, but even more important, you will have shown you commitment to making a difference.  

FYI: In 3 events, we have had 29 volunteers and 92 volunteer hours at the Raleigh Rescue Mission

Volunteers: Allen Kannan, Joe & Alison Mecca, Karita Robins, Fran Donovant, Pam Haven, Doug & Kathy Lintelman

-Karita Robins

On Saturday, June 23rd, CUaware partnered with the Raleigh Rescue Mission to lend a helping hand to Raleigh’s community in need.

Our four hour shift began with introductions, as we had several people from different credit unions join us for our event. We had representatives from Coastal and Local Government Credit Union and even some kids and significant others of employees… I love that we are spreading the word of “People Helping People!” and getting others to take part in our events!

With a record number of nine volunteers, we worked with the kitchen manager to bring a hot dinner to the residents of the Mission. Dinner was a smorgasbord of tastes from hamburger steak to BBQ chicken and lasagna to donated Chik-fil-A sandwiches. We had mashed potatoes to go with the steak and green beans, butter beans, and field peas to round off the vegetable choices. We had a blast serving the residents and truly enjoyed the kindness and gratitude they showed us for being there.

After dinner was served, we assisted the staff with cleaning the kitchen and spent a few minutes talking with the kitchen manager about the difference the RRM makes in the lives of people in need. The RRM is a great organization that works solely off of donations. It’s truly amazing the things they’ve accomplished!

Be on the lookout for our next volunteer opportunities coming up! We have another event scheduled with the RRM in August and a DeConstruction event with the Wake County Habitat for Humanity sometime this fall!

Thank you to those who volunteered and took time out of your busy schedule to share a smile with people who need one!

Volunteers: Brad Miller, Brenda Harrington, Karita Robins, Bianca Deluca, Annette Sinclair, Sigrid Olsen, Andy, Sander Casino, and Alex Sabol

- Karita Robins, CUaware Triangle Volunteer Coordinator