Young Adults Help BC Credit Unions Give $100,000 to Local Charities
Central 1 Credit Union today announced the results of a province-wide campaign that challenged young adults to Be Remarkable by helping to distribute $100,000 to local charities. The initiative, led by Central 1 on behalf of British Columbia’s 45 credit unions, used the popular social networking site Facebook as the mechanism to allocate and distribute the funds.
Sixteen regions in BC were each represented by a photo album on the Be Remarkable Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/beremarkable). Each time a Facebook user tagged themselves or a friend in photos of their community or town, BC’s credit unions donated $1 to a local charity. Thirty-two charities were eligible to receive the funds; each one is focused on issues important to young adults such as sports, culture, education, health, and the environment.
“Social media was a great tool to help us build awareness. Through this campaign we wanted to demonstrate the values that set the credit union system apart from other financial institutions,” said Martin Reed, Director, Marketing & Creative Services, Central 1. “By harnessing a little regional pride online, young people were able to support local causes that are important to them.”
Vancouver Island led the province in the number of tags. The top four regions were:
- Vancouver Island: Victoria READ Society ($7,845) and Vancouver Island School of Arts Society ($7,845);
- Thompson Okanagan: Youth Employment Services (YES) - Okanagan Boys & Girls Clubs ($6,295) and Thompson Rivers University Foundation ($6,295);
- Northern BC: Northern Lights Wildlife Society ($5,150) and University of Northern British Columbia ($5,150);
- Kootenay/Rockies: Friends Of West Kootenay Parks Society ($3,970) and Variety Club Kootenay/Rockies ($3,970).
In late September, several communities in BC declared a state of emergency due to severe flooding. To show support for fellow British Columbians in crisis, two additional disaster relief charities were included in the campaign. As a result, funds were allocated to the Canadian Red Cross BC Floods Response ($8,360) and Salvation Army Mt. Waddington Disaster Relief Fund ($6,450).