FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
America First Credit Union donates $19,000 to feed 78,072 Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada families
Riverdale, UT – Nov. 23, 2020 – With Thanksgiving around the corner and food banks still struggling to receive food donations to keep up with the growing need, America First Credit Union (AFCU) is donating more than 63,000 meals to the Utah Food Bank for families struggling to access to food during these challenging times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional 16,548 meals were donated to other agencies, including Three Square Food Bank serving families in Clark County, Nevada.
From Sept. 8 to Oct. 30, monetary donations were collected for the credit union’s annual food drive from AFCU staff, members and community, and the credit union also donated an additional $5,000. This was the first year AFCU hosted a monetary donation drive to support local food banks. In years past, canned goods had been collected at each of the credit union’s 128 locations. In total, employees and members have donated more than 78,072 meals in addition to 200,000 pounds of food to Utah and Southern Nevada families over the past 16 years.
The money donated to the Utah Food Bank and other agencies will be used to feed families in need across Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Southern Nevada.
“This year we saw a huge demand for food assistance. To be responsible to the needs our communities, we made changes to our annual food drive due to COVID-19 by moving from canned good donations at our branches to online donations, but we knew this year is more important than ever to help local families in need,” said Nicole Cypers, AFCU vice president of PR and governmental relations. “Thanks to our wonderful employees and members, who donated to be able to provide meals to our food-insecure neighbors.”
“Thank you to America First Credit Union for your understanding of the issues of hunger in Utah,” Jeanette Bott, Utah Food bank president. “America First has collectively given throughout the state of Utah 359,637 meals since we established our partnership in 1998. Thank you for the extended help, in addition to what you’ve done this year. ”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the hunger crisis in Southern Nevada — nearly 440,000 residents, or one in five, are now food-insecure,” said Three Square Food Bank President and CEO Brian Burton. “We are incredibly thankful to America First Credit Union who has been our steadfast partner in the fight against hunger since 2017, allowing us to leverage their gift as a matching challenge to the community every year, providing an additional 90,000 meals to our neighbors in need.”
The credit union is donating $15,381 to Utah Food bank food to help individuals and families struggling with food insecurity. A virtual check presentation was presented on Nov.12 to Bott by Cypers (CLICK HERE to watch the video).
According to Feeding America, the nation’s premiere food insecurity program, food banks are feeding nearly 60 percent more people during the COVID-19 pandemic than they were in June 2019. At the same time, many food banks are seeing decreased donations from the grocery stores and manufacturers that helped them in the past.
The community can donate online to both Utah Food Bank, Idaho Food Bank, United Food Bank (Arizona) and Three Square Food Bank.
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ABOUT AMERICA FIRST CREDIT UNION
Proudly celebrating 81 years of servicing members and a long-standing history, America First Credit Union has become one of the largest, most stable and most progressive credit unions in the country, and has remained a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative financial institution. Today, America First has 128 locations, and is the ninth largest credit union in assets in the United States with over $14.1 billion, and the sixth largest credit union in membership in America with more than 1,154,000 members.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Nicole Cypers
America First Credit Union
801.827.8655
ncypers@americafirst.com
Kelsey Richardson
R&R Partners
801.913.9454
Kelsey.richardson@rrpartners.com
