STCU honors exceptional staff volunteerism

| December 24, 2022 1:00 AM

STCU employees once again showed their passion for community service by documenting a record 10,000 hours of volunteerism in 12 months.

The volunteers including 18 employees who served at least 80 hours of volunteerism for a single organization. Scores of others exceeded the 16 hours of paid time off that every STCU employee receives annually for volunteer activities.

In response, STCU is providing a record number of year-end Volunteers Count grants of $25 to $1,000. Those grants go to every organization where an employee reported at least 12 hours of service – a total of 120 organizations.

Of the 120 STCU employees who earned grants to the non-profit organization or school where they volunteer their time:

32 $25 grants (at least 12 hours)
35 $50 grants (at least 20 hours)
17 $100 grants (at least 40 hours)
18 $250 grants (at least 80 hours)
18 $1,000 grants

The $26,700 in Volunteers Count grants is a small but meaningful part of the surprise donations STCU makes during its Season of Giving each December and January.

One-hundred-twenty organizations and 10,000 hours are not nearly a complete record, noted Ezra Eckhardt, president and CEO of the Spokane-based credit union. Many employees are reluctant to seek recognition for their altruism.

“Our employees’ passions are diverse, and so are the organizations where they serve,” Eckhardt said “It always makes my day to hear from leaders of community non-profits who want to tell me about an STCU employee who’s an exceptional volunteer.”

Any employee with at least 12 hours of service was invited to complete an application for a $1,000 grant on behalf of the organization they serve. The 18 recipient organizations were selected based on the employee’s passion for the cause, and the organization’s benefit to the community.

In all, STCU employees reported giving their time to 307 organizations across a broad swath of the Inland Northwest. They range from the Coulee City Senior Center, to Spokane’s Vanessa Behan, to Safe Passage, which serves survivors of domestic violence in Coeur d’Alene.