Submitted by BECU.
As a leading financial cooperative, BECU supports the communities where its members live, work and play. Today, the credit union announced its doors are closed for Indigenous Peoples Day and nearly 2,500 employees are participating virtually in its annual BECU Cares Day (formerly its Annual Day of Service), packing around 26,000 kits in total for nine nonprofit partners that will be distributed to the people the organizations serve.
“Our BECU Cares Day is a way for employees to live our values and give back to local nonprofits that are making significant differences in our communities,” said Benson Porter, BECU’s president and chief executive officer. “While much has changed in recent years, the credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’ is as strong as ever. Lending a hand to serve others is at the core of who we are as an organization, and we believe all individuals deserve access to essential items that support their well-being.”
Each employee will assemble kits remotely from home, while also connecting with their work teams digitally through video chat. The kits vary by each partner organization and include items to support personal care, wellness, school supplies and a new home.
This year, care packages will benefit nine of BECU’s philanthropic partners located in Washington and South Carolina, including:
- ACRS – Asian Counseling and Referral Service: Personal care kits will be distributed to Asian American and Pacific Islanders and other underserved communities in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
- College Success Foundation: School supplies will be deployed to underserved high school students in nine Washington public school districts.
- Giving Back Packs: Personal care kits will benefit 1,500 people in Spokane, Washington who are experiencing homelessness and in need of basic items.
- Habitat for Humanity of King County: New home kits will be given to families in King County who are moving out of vulnerable housing into homeownership.
- Housing Hope: Personal care and wellness kits will be provided to individuals and families in Snohomish County through its programs focused on helping people move out of homelessness.
- Junior Achievement of Washington: School supplies and wellness kits will be distributed to students and teachers across Washington state.
- One80 Place: Personal care kits will go to the largest homeless service provider in South Carolina’s Lowcountry region to assist families and individuals in need.
- Raising Girls: Personal care kits will be provided to girls in Pierce County and Seattle’s South Sound who do not have access to daily care and hygiene products.
- SNAP – Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners: Personal care kits will go to families in Spokane, Washington who are living in poverty.
In years’ past, BECU’s annual day of service has been a day when all employees came together on Indigenous Peoples Day to provide financial education to high school students, or community service to local nonprofits. Due to the positive response BECU received from providing supply kits to nonprofits in 2020, the credit union implemented a similar approach for this year’s event.
