BayPort Wins Service Award for Program that Encourages Branch-Level Community Involvement

NEWPORT NEWS, VA (12/22/2011)(readMedia)-- BayPort Credit Union has won Honorable Mention in the state Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Recognition Award Program for credit unions. The Social Responsibility Recognition Award Program, sponsored by the Virginia Credit Union League and the Credit Union National Association, honors credit unions for their involvement in community projects and activities.

The competition is named after Dora Maxwell, a credit union pioneer, who worked with several organizations to improve the living standards of the poor and needy.

BayPort won the award for its "Community Branch Adoption" program, which gave each of the credit union's 14 branch locations the autonomy to develop working relationships with worthwhile community organizations and support those organizations through fundraising, in-kind contributions and volunteer service.

More than 50 organizations received aid through the credit union and the fundraising efforts of its staff members, including a $17,000 donation to the Walk to End Alzheimer's; a $16,000 donation to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life; a charity partnership with the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Show that raised $5,500 and 1,700 pounds of food for the Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula; and a $6,000 donation for tornado victims in Gloucester County.

"We truly 'localized' our community involvement efforts through this program. We learned that the communities we serve often have their own unique needs and challenges, and our employees seemed to appreciate the fact they were making a difference in their local communities," says George Dudley, President/CEO of BayPort Credit Union. "By allowing our individual branches to build relationships with charities and non-profits right outside their doors, it created deeper awareness of our communities and helped build on the 'neighbor helping neighbor' philosophy so integral to who we are as a credit union."

BayPort Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative headquartered in Newport News, with $1.1 billion in assets and more than 92,000 members. Learn more about BayPort Credit Union online at www.bayportcu.org.