DFW Airport Administration, the DFW USO and North Texas Commission will celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the U.S. Military arrivals and departures through DFW Airport on Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

In support of the of the celebration, the Fort Worth Chapter of Credit Unions will take part in a Greet the Troops visit at DFW Airport, Terminal D, Gate 22 on the Arrival Level, Tuesday, June 16, 2009. We welcome volunteers to meet and greet the troops. The flight is scheduled to arrive at 9:30 a.m. We encourage you to be in the terminal by 9:00 a.m. To check the approximate arrival time, you are encouraged to call the Hotline number at 972-574-0392 around 7:00 am on the morning of the flight.

Our vendor exposition will be at Will Rogers Center on June 23rd.

Preferred Partners and other vendors interested in taking part should contact Natalie Parish. You can get a copy of the registration form here.

As we have for the last two years, we will be using the expo to gather donations for the USA Home Team and the 10th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. In each of the last two years, your generous donations have been overwhelming and are the two largest donations USA Home Team have received. We welcome cash donations to support shipping expenses as well as whatever you can donate from their wish list.

We have a sales training session scheduled for the morning of May 20th at EECU. $25 includes breakfast and a great educational session. For more information or to RSVP, contact Raymond Shands.

The Texas Credit Union Foundation made the following post to their Facebook page today:

Monday April 6, 2009 – (Dallas, TX) – In recognition of their commitment to improving financial literacy in their community, the Texas Credit Union Foundation (Foundation) has for the fourth consecutive year awarded the Fort Worth Chapter of Credit Unions with its prestigious FOCUS Award. Created three years ago, the FOCUS Award is the Foundation’s way of saying “job well done” to those credit unions and credit union leaders who are championing the cause to make a difference in the financial lives of Texas families.

“It’s a sad reality…millions of Americans have found themselves overwhelmed by personal debt because they didn’t know any better,” observed Courtney Nickles, interim executive director of the Foundation. “Money management isn’t something you are born with, it must be taught.”

Thankfully, there are organizations like the Fort Worth Chapter of Credit Unions willing to do just that. Comprised of about 33 credit unions, the Fort Worth Chapter continues to strengthen its commitment to financial education through its co-sponsorship of the “Newspapers in Education Program,” a program offered through the Fort Worth Star Telegram that enables them to reach teachers and students in participating area school districts.

Each year, volunteers from credit unions within the Fort Worth Chapter teach financial literacy classes at area schools utilizing the National Endowment for Financial Education’s High School Financial Planning Program. The NEFE curriculum is Texas Education Agency-approved, and meets all Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) requirements for course instruction in personal finance.

The chapter has also collaborated with Junior Achievement of Chisholm Trail, Inc., supporting the program with a $7,500 donation, which the Foundation matched. Junior Achievement is dedicated to helping prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it. Utilizing the Junior Achievement’s curriculum, volunteers from the chapter taught financial education classes for grades kindergarten to six in the Sam Rosen Elementary School in Fort Worth and Webb Elementary School in Arlington. Thanks to the chapter’s involvement, some 1,200 students were exposed to this curriculum.

“Credit unions understand that being a financial service provider is more than just offering checking, savings and loans. It means taking the time to ensure members understand how to utilize these products and others responsibly,” adds Nickles. “Our FOCUS Award winners and every credit union across the country leading the charge to wipe out financial illiteracy are to be commended!”

The Fort Worth Chapter of Credit Unions will be recognized in front of their peers at the Texas Credit Union League’s Annual Meeting & Expo in Austin next week.

Just a quick note to qualify as our first “live blog”! Today is the chapter board’s annual planning session. Today and in the coming days a lot of updates will be showing up on our Upcoming Site. This is a pretty good site to bookmark to keep up with our calendar.

With all that is going on in the credit union industry, we’re certainly focused on credit union budgets and providing affordable, LOCAL educational opportunities. We’ve also rolled back our dinner price from our recent increase.

We’ll be seeking input from our credit unions on the needs that still must be met, especially opportunities where we can work together to hold down costs. Come prepared with your ideas and suggestions at our upcoming meetings, or feel free to start the discussion in our comment section.

The Chapter is again offering scholarships to Southwest CUNA Management School for employees of member and affiliated credit unions. The application and instructions can be downloaded here:

• Scholarship Application

For more information, conact: Nancy Croix-Stroud, President of First Class American CU and Chair of our scholarship committee.

In cooperation with EECU, we are again holding advanced IRA training to prepare your credit union for the upcoming tax season. Many credit unions were only able to send part of their staff last year, so here is your opportunity to send more or come back for a refresher. For details, please contact Scott Ward.

OTHER REMINDERS:

RSVP’s for this month’s dinner are due NOW! Our speaker, Jeff Huffman has headed back to Washington to lobby on our behalf and Jim Phelps will be standing in for him. In addition to election of board members, we will hold our annual Cake Sale to benefit the Texas Credit Union Foundation. In addition to our commitment to Newspapers in Education, the chapter has also supported the hurricane relief efforts of the Foundation this year. We’re hoping for terrific results from our sale for these great causes.

The school Christmas parties are fast approaching. All volunteers will need to submit background forms and those are due to the party coordinators by Friday, November 21. See the prior post for the forms and contact information.

Save the date: Our Christmas dinner at the Petroleum Club will be Monday, December 8th. Watch for the invite soon!

Here’s an amazing stat: This year we will be hosting our 18th holiday party at Sam Rosen Elementary in Fort Worth.

We had so much fun with that one, we just had to have another and will be celebrating our 8th year at Webb Elementary in Arlington.

Volunteering for these events is guaranteed to be one of the highlights of your holiday season.

Here’s the schedule for 2008:

Dec 9 (morning) Party Prep at Sam Rosen

Dec 10 (all day) Party at Sam Rosen

Dec 16 (morning) Party Prep at Webb

Dec 17 (all day) Party at Webb

Raymond Shands is the volunteer coordinator for Sam Rosen

Vince Heimann is organizing workers for Webb.

Sandy Spitzmueller is the coat drive coordinator.

Even though the parties last all day, you are welcome to work only part of the day if that is what you can do. In addition to volunteers, we make a donation of winter coats to each school and try to buy a few items for goodie bags for each child. Your donation of coats and/or cash would be greatly appreciated!

All volunteers must be approved in advance by the district. Click here for a copy of the Arlington ISD volunteer form Please fill out the form, attach a copy of your ID and forward it to Vince, his fax number is 817-273-5913.

The Fort Worth ISD volunteer form is one page, be sure to copy your I.D. on to the form and fax to Raymond at 817-882-0136.

The deadline to submit the background form is November 21st. If you are recruiting volunteers from your credit union, you may also want to plan in advance for substitute volunteers by having them fill out the form as well.

If you need directions to the schools, click on their names above.

Lastly, check back and check the comments to this post for any subsequent information from the committee.

Here’s what the chapter did in response to this letter in the Krum Star:

Dear Citizens:

My daddy is asking for our help. He is a fireman for the United States Air Force and is in Iraq for his third time. He has asked me to gather school supplies for my friends in Iraq for school. Will you please help me show my daddy that the citizens within Krum do support him?

This will make my daddy happy as he is a Denton County Deputy Sheriff and on the SWAT team. He is my hero and I’m sure a Hero from someone in Denton County, it will be my wish that my daddy will get all the school supplies and win his competition over there with other bases.

The supply list includes but no limited to the following:

Stapler, Notebook paper, Notebook, 10 pack of pencils, 10 pack of pens, 10 erasers, Ruler, Protractor, Box of crayons/chalk, Scissors

For each of these items my daddy will get one point, for items not listed they will be at least one point.

Whoever sends my daddy the most supplies will have a flag flown in their honor on a mission with a certificate signed by everyone on that mission. When he gets home he’ll present the flag and certificate in uniform to say THANKS.

Thanks for your help in helping my daddy, if you have any questions please call my mommy at ……

Thanks to all of our members who contributed!

To: CEOs in the Fort Worth Chapter Credit Unions

From: Pat Mott

I am personally inviting you or a representative from your credit union to attend Southwest Corporate FCU’s Financial Review Roundtable on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at the Radisson Fossil Creek (2540 Meacham Blvd.) from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. The roundtable is free and open to all credit union management and volunteers.

The event is designed to give you an opportunity for expanded discussion of Southwest Corporate’s financial reports.

If you have not yet registered, you can do so at Southwest Corporate’s Site

I hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Pat Mott, President/CEO

Arlington Federal Credit Union

Southwest Corporate FCU Board Member