America’s Christian Credit Union (ACCU), a faith-based financial institution headquartered in Southern California, wrapped up its sixty-first year with multiple acts of generosity, reinforcing its key corporate priorities of building stronger families, communities, futures, and ministries.
The campaign kicked off on Giving Tuesday (December 3, 2019) with a donation drive for The Sheepfold, a nonprofit that serves mothers and children who have escaped domestic violence. ACCU staff members donated new clothes, toys, cleaning supplies, devotional books, and gift cards, filling three large boxes. Items not distributed as Christmas gifts will be placed in the ministry’s warehouse. “Some of the women we serve show up with nothing but the clothes on their back,” explains program coordinator Erin Lind. “Having a variety of items in inventory allows us to meet future needs. We are so grateful for the generosity of ACCU staff!”
Building further on its commitment to serve the community, ACCU’s board of directors authorized monetary gifts to more than 80 churches, ministries, and nonprofits whose missions and service have merited recognition and support. The year-end blessing drive, dubbed “Random Acts of Kindness,” distributes about $140,000 in charitable gifts and was made possible by the credit union’s strong financial performance during 2019.
The recipients included CarePortal, an online platform that aligns with ACCU’s mission to build stronger families. An arm of the Global Orphan Project, CarePortal makes local churches aware of the needs of nearby children and families with specific needs, giving them a real-time opportunity to respond. “We make it easy for churches to engage in foster and orphan care,” says Southern California area director Rebekah Weigel.
Another recipient is Neighborhood Christian Fellowship, which serves needy communities in the Los Angeles basin. The church recently sent a team to assist an organization serving refugees in Arizona. Senior Pastor Dave Johnson says ACCU’s gift will be used toward repair work that came up unexpectedly while the sanctuary was being renovated. “Your gift has strengthened our faith and given us even more reason to rejoice,” he writes in a letter to the board. “We are so pleased to have a banking partner that is so deeply invested in our church’s mission.”
Wesleyan Holiness Connection (WHC), a strategic Kingdom partner of the credit union, is also among the ministries awarded a year-end gift. Founded in 2004, it is a network of denominations, leaders, and colleges/universities that serves as the ecclesiastical covering for ACCU, providing the Credit Union the reference point for its identity, heritage and mission. The WHC represents the stream of the church that shapes ACCU’s field of membership and anchors its Statement of Faith. WHC recently commemorated its 15th anniversary with a special meeting at the Salvation Army International Headquarters in London, where representatives of 18 partner denominations convened to call for holiness and unity in the church.
“To say that ACCU had an impact-filled year is an understatement,” says the credit union’s President/CEO Mendell L. Thompson. “We have never been financially stronger, but more importantly, we’ve never been more strongly united in our mission to be a financial partner for cultural impact. We look forward to continuing to reach, serve, and teach in the new decade.”