Ann Arbor Times

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Awards Committee has announced Genisys Credit Union as the national-level, first-place winner of the 2022 Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Community Service Award. The award recognizes credit unions nationwide for outstanding social responsibility projects in their communities.

They received the accolade in light of their efforts with Pontiac-based non-profit, Lighthouse. Lighthouse has a mission to build equitable communities that alleviate poverty. In 2021, the two organizations furthered their partnership with a comprehensive campaign called “One Kitchen, Unlimited Reach: Eliminating Homelessness with Genisys Credit Union & Lighthouse.”

With this campaign, the credit union team donated $60,000 to renovate the commercial kitchen at Lighthouse, which hasn’t been used in over 10 years; volunteered over 140 hours to transition a building on their campus into a family emergency shelter; and hosted a company-wide employee campaign to stock the kitchen raising over $8,000.

“Our goals for this project were rooted in advancing the mission of Lighthouse. Throughout the campaign, the credit union team came together to do good, in big ways. I want to thank each team member who made this campaign possible and successful,” said Jackie Buchanan, President, and CEO of Genisys Credit Union. “Receiving recognition as a nationwide leader in corporate social responsibility within the credit union movement is an awe-inspiring nod that we are honored to have received.”

They followed up the campaign with an Open House & Fundraiser in October. Held at the Lighthouse headquarters, the Open House aimed to raise awareness and additional funds around the commercial kitchen renovation.

"We at Lighthouse are truly grateful for our multifaceted partnership with our friends at Genisys Credit Union. In addition to their very generous contribution to our kitchen project, Genisys staff have volunteered countless hours with our organization in a wide variety of areas. Genisys's support of our mission to build equitable communities that alleviate poverty, in addition to the direct impact of their own work, is a testament to their team's strong commitment to social responsibility," said Ryan Hertz, President, and CEO of Lighthouse.

The Dora Maxwell Award was created in honor of Dora Maxwell, a community activist who committed her life to credit union development, her community, and serving the underserved.

“Genisys demonstrated how they live our ‘people helping people’ motto in new and exciting ways I hope inspires everyone in our movement,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “They truly live the credit union difference every day to benefit their members and advance the communities they serve.” 

Original source can be found here.