If we want to help humanity in a practical way, we must begin by setting an example of mutual respect, harmony and cooperation. – Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama’s statement strikes a positive chord with me. He speaks such a simple truth, but it’s a truth that I see in the Credit Union Movement. When I first started in credit unions after college, I couldn’t have told you what the CU Difference was… but I’ve been fortunate to be able to continue in this industry, seeing it all around me, and through my actions can help (in small or large ways) to have a positive impact too.

One of the biggest things that I love about my job is helping others in credit unions bring their ideas to life. You may have seen our post about Celebrating Earth Day with Cooperation … this was born out of an idea of our newest addition to our Member Service Center, Cari Salehi. While we were in training, she was asking questions about how Verity interacts with the community. “Do you think we could get a group of Verity employees together to volunteer for Earth Day?” A grin instantly split across my face, for I knew that we could do it.

When we were talking about it further, I knew that my friend Camille Iorio at Seattle Metropolitan CU would love to help, too. So the three of us discussed a collaborative, cooperative effort to really live the credit union difference by working together in our community. With the help and support of our respective marketing departments (HUGE thank you to Andy Wright of SMCU and Melina Young of Verity), we’re turning this idea into reality, and hope that you can cooperate with us.

Through helping pull some weeds, or planting some trees, you’ll be focusing your energy on making a positive impact in this community we all share. We’d love the opportunity to work alongside you, and hear about the ways you’d like to make a difference. We also have some great t-shirts that we’d love to give away! Let us know if we’ll “C U” there, from 9-3 on April 23rd at the Washington Park Arboretum.