Our annual vendor exposition will be at Will Rogers Center the day after Memorial Day.

Preferred Partners and other vendors interested in taking part should complete and return the vendor application.

ALSO: We will again be using the expo to gather donations for the USA Home Team and the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. Last year your generous donations filled a pickup truck, cab and all, and was the largest single donation USA Home Team had ever received. Our goal is to top last year’s donation. Please donate whatever you can from their wish list.

Donating blood is always a great idea, but the chapter board is encouraging our members to make a special donation.

Many of you are aware that our CMN coordinator Suzanne Fusaro and her family are going through some challenging times. Suzanne’s husband Lou has been in need of weekly transfusions.

Donations in Lou’s honor can be made at any Carter BloodCare location. The sponsor number you should provide is SPON046349

Our next Greet The Troops days are Friday, April 25th and Saturday, Aril 26th. Hopefully you can arrange for at least some staff to make the Friday “Greet” and we always like to schedule a Saturday for those of you who like to bring your kids and/or grandchildren.

The flights usually arrive between 7a.m. and 9 a.m. but it is strongly advised that you call the phone number below, beginning at 8:00 p.m. the preceding night for the flight arrival time. It is also a good idea to check the number again before heading to the airport.

972-574-0392

The troops arrive at Terminal D, Gate 22. You may park in the lot located on the arrivals level. You will walk across to greet the troops in the Arrival Hall. Parking passes will be issued as you arrive so there is no parking fee or charge to your toll tag.

For more information www.welcometroops.com

Your support of our monthly door prize drawings has lead to ANOTHER award for the chapter!!!

Dear Ft. Worth Chapter,

We are again delighted that the Ft. Worth Chapter has been selected to receive the Texas Credit Union Foundation 2008 FOCUS Award in the Chapter category!

You were selected not only for your continuing commitment to the NIE Program, but also for demonstrating the credit union philosophy through your amazing partnership with Junior Achievement! We know that the program is just getting started, but the fact that your chapter has stepped up to the plate and made such a significant commitment involving so many credit unions, exemplifies what chapters everywhere could accomplish. You certainly set the bar high!

Special Thanks to Walter Furnace for submitting the entry! It was well done!

The Award will be presented at the Texas Credit Union League Annual Meeting General Session Breakfast on Thursday, April 17 at 8:00 am. We hope you will let the other members know and encourage them to attend the breakfast to cheer yourselves on! Please feel free to share this email with your teammates.

Again, on behalf of Courtney and Staci, we offer our warmest congratulations!

Best regards,

Jill Pharr

Texas Credit Union Foundation, Executive Director

Post about last year’s award

Post about our award the year before that

Post abount our Newspapers In Education pledge and how your door prize contributions are such a great help

At our March meeting, we will be taking donations of new children’s books to support the USO’s United Through Reading Program. When we collected money and books last time we were able to donate 73 books and money for DVD expenses.

Coincidentaly the Star Telegram recently ran a feature on the program and the efforts of Willis Lane Elementary in Keller. Here’s the link

We encourage you to bring books or a cash donation to our dinner on the 25th.

April 11th update: A big THANK YOU to everyone who made donation of books or cash!

We were able to donate 292 books to the USO!

Enterprise Car Sales has introduced an exciting promotion for our member credit unions.

Enterprise will make a $100 donation to Children’s Miracle Network for every referral from a DFW area Credit Union that produces a sale in the month of April 2008.

Credit union marketers can click here to obtain the PDF promotional flyer.

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

• Scholarship Application

Nancy Croix-Stroud, President of First Class American CU serves as the Chair of our scholarship committee.

I wanted to quickly recap a couple of things from our wonderful evening. In addition to a great meal and an awesome view of Fort Worth, the recognition we were able to give to the chapter for their work on behalf of children was great!

Connie Shands, who was a teacher at Sam Rosen Elementary back when we started hosting a party there, spoke about the real benefit for a child who gets a new pair of shoes or a warm coat. I won’t try to paraphrase her, but it was a very moving talk and a true reward for those who help at the parties.

Secondly, we had the chance to recognize the special individuals who contribute their time and talents to the chapter’s “Miracle Team”. Our casino night raised a record $22,344!!! Each credit union received a framed version of the artwork that graces the cover of our upcoming Cookbook for Kids. Pictures of these great folks can be found in our photo album.

As the year is quickly drawing to a close, the board would like to remind you of several actions/activities between now and the end of the year.

TCUL PAC – we are still behind our goal. If your credit union has funds from employee contribution or candy sales, be sure to get that sent in before Christmas

School Parties – We are currently collecting information on volunteers. There was an error on the letter sent to credit unions. Sam Rosen background forms should be faxed to Raymond Shands, his correct fax number is 817-882-0136. Background forms for Webb should be faxed to Vince Heimann at 817-273-5913.

Cookbooks for Kids – Due to a printing delay, we now expect delivery the first week of December. If your CU ordered books we will be contacting you about a pick-up date and time.

Chapter Dinners – The notice for our November 27th meeting (Robbery) is out. Remember to get your RSVP in before heading off for Thanksgiving. Also, we will be having our Christmas dinner at the Petroleum Club on December 3rd. The full notice will be out next week.

We are getting closer to the Christmas Carnivals at Sam Rosen Elementary (Wednesday, December 12th), and Webb Elementary (Tuesday, December 18th). In addition to all the fun we have planned for the children, we are trying to make sure we have plenty of winter coats to donate to the children that need them.

Over the years we have had hundreds of coats donated by our Credit Unions and Preferred Partners. These special gifts have been both very much appreciated and very much needed. Many of these children do without things we all take for granted, and the coats are one way to help make a difference in their lives.

We are in need of NEW coats that will fit elementary children up to grade 6. We need coats for both boys and girls.

Some Credit Unions and Preferred Partners are accepting cash donations from their staff and membership. With the funds they collect, they are purchasing coats. Others are just asking that new coats be donated. Either way is great!

Once you have collected the coats, please contact Vince Heimann to make arrangements to have them picked up.

If you have any questions, or need more information, please contact Vince at 817-273-5910.