Later this month, the team at Interior Savings will be taking off their banker hats to spend a day making a charitable change.
To celebrate International Credit Union Day on Oct. 20, staffers from each Interior Savings branch – 500 in total – will be taking part in the Day of Difference, a day they clock in from remote locations to cash out some altruistic efforts.
“Our Oliver Branch team will be volunteering with the Oliver Kiwanis at Sunnybank Retirement Centre,” said Corinne Johnson, manager of community engagement. “Our Okanagan Falls Branch team will be doing outdoor clean-up, planting perennials and general beautification of the Blasted Church heritage site.”
And in Osoyoos, workers will be at the Osoyoos Food Bank sorting and packaging bulk food.
In order for members can begin their benevolent work at 2:30 p.m., Interior Savings branches will be shuttering early on the 20th. The Day of Difference is celebrated each year, but this time around Interior Savings is upping the ante.
“We’ll also be launching the Interior Savings $10,000 Local Give – a program that invites people in our communities to tell us what they would do with $100 to make a positive difference,” Johnson said. “We will then award $100 to 100 people to go out and make good things happen.”
Because volunteers are often in short supply, Interior Savings organizes the Day of Difference every year so that each branch can lend some manpower to the short-handed charitable projects happening in their community.
“As a locally-based cooperative, our success is tied to the success of our communities,” said Kathy Conway, Interior Savings CEO. “Day of Difference is our way of saying thanks to the non-profits and volunteers who give their time and their hearts to help build brighter futures, right here at home. It’s an opportunity for us to lend a hand to all of those community organizations who work tirelessly for the benefit of others; we’ve coined this our Day of Difference.”
Last year, employees from the Osoyoos branch joined forces with the Rotary Club to clean the streets and highway of litter; the branch in Oliver put its energy towards helping out the Boys and Girls Club; and the Interior Savings in OK Falls spent the afternoon helped their Parks and Rec team with a mural project.
“It’s a day to recognize its cooperative values and celebrate those who are making a difference in their community.”
Interior Savings puts the call out every spring to see which non-profits might appreciate their labour.
By Dan Walton
