On October 11, Teachers Credit Union (TCU) participated in its fourth annual Day of Giving, an event the institution holds to bring together employees to volunteer with nonprofit organizations throughout the state of Indiana and southwestern Michigan.
This year, however, was slightly different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, TCU team members will volunteer on-site at various nonprofits, but with the Delta variant making its way around, TCU felt it was safer to alter its plans.
“We started the Day of Giving in 2018 so this was our fourth year,” said Angie Dvorak, vice president of marketing for TCU. “In each of the first two years, we had about 50 volunteer sites with nonprofits around the state and 650 or so employees who came together to volunteer. We had planned another company-wide day of volunteering for this year, but unfortunately COVID altered our plans for the second year in a row.”
That, however, didn’t stop TCU from giving back to the community. This year, in lieu of volunteering, they made the decision to donate $500 each to the 47 organizations that TCU had planned to volunteer with.
“We still wanted to be able to make an impact. At TCU, we always focus on impacting the community with our talent, time, and treasure. We have our team members who dedicate their time and their talent. And this was an instance where TCU was able to come in and offer treasure, which was a $500 donation to each of the 47 organizations that we would have been volunteering with,” Dvorak said.
Dvorak said some nonprofits were chosen for the Day of Giving because TCU was familiar with and supported their work. Others were chosen because individual team members were either on the board of the organization or a regular volunteer.
Some of the organizations in the Region that TCU contributed funds to include the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana and Tradewinds Services, Inc. in Merrillville, the Duneland Family YMCA in Chesterton, Opportunity Enterprises in Valparaiso, and Phil’s Friends Indiana Hope Center in Crown Point.
Dvorak said TCU takes pride in giving back to the community any way they can.
“TCU has always been focused on giving back to the community, both through volunteering and through donations and sponsorships with local organizations,” she said.
In 2020, TCU and its foundation gave more than $800,000 to almost 200 community organizations throughout the state. Team members are also big on volunteering when they can, offering at least 4,500 hours of their time.
“I know they volunteer for more hours than they track,” Dvorak said.
Dvorak said the Day of Giving is just one of the many ways TCU gives back to the community, and she is proud to be part of an organization that goes to great lengths to help the communities around it.
“It's really not just a Day of Giving, there are so many different types of things and activities that TCU is involved with and that's really cool. We partner with organizations ranging from the civic theatre to zoos and local economic development groups, and it's great seeing the wide range of projects that we're involved with,” she said.
For more information on the Teachers Credit Union Foundation, visit https://www.tcunet.com/About/Community/TCUFoundation, and for more information on Teachers Credit Union, visit https://www.tcunet.com/.
