The Louise Herring Award for Philosophy in Action recognizes and honors credit unions that demonstrate, in an extraordinary way, the practical application of credit union philosophy for internal programs and services. Champions First Credit Union’s entry illustrated its “People Helping People” philosophy by detailing the success of its Financial Fitness Campaign, which launched in February of 2020 to assist current and prospective members in lowering their monthly bills and saving money through refinancing options, balance transfers, and new loans. During the three-month campaign, Champions First Credit Union saved its members more than $400,000 with an average per-member savings of $2,123.
“We are thrilled to be recognized with the coveted Louise Herring Award for Philosophy in Action for our Financial Fitness Campaign,” commented Champions First Credit Union President/CEO Chuck Adcock. “Although the pandemic hit during our campaign, we were able to adjust our service delivery to still save our members money and assist them in this challenging economic time.”
During the 2020 Financial Fitness Campaign Champions First Credit Union members could track their favorite Financial Fitness Trainers (branch supervisors who competed in a friendly competition to see who could save members the most) through an interactive website. Champions First Credit Union encouraged people to call, email, or visit a Financial Fitness Trainer to “Get Fit in 2020” and see how much they could save through the program. After the pandemic began impacting communities in March of 2020, Champions First Credit Union shifted the focus of our campaign to assist members affected by COVID-19 and suffering financial hardships.
The Louise Herring Award for Philosophy in Action is named after Louise Herring, dubbed the “Mother of Credit Unions” by the Ohio General Assembly for her help in chartering nearly 500 credit unions.
