Franklin First Federal Credit Union Honored as Community Hero

SPRINGFIELD — Franklin First Federal Credit Union was honored as a Community Hero at the Credit Union Heroes and Community Bank Heroes Awards Gala on March 28, hosted at MGM Springfield by American Business Media, publisher of Banking New England and Centerpoint magazines.

Wolf and Co., one of the nation’s leading tax, audit, and CPA firms, was the gala’s presenting sponsor. The gala recognized 18 community banks and credit unions from across New England for their creation of community partnerships and going beyond the call to aid their community. Vincent Valvo, American Business Media publisher and CEO, noted that “we sought out the banks and credit unions that are doing things that are interesting, impactful, and innovative.”

Franklin First was recognized for its partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County through the creation of a financial carnival designed to educate youth in the community about identifying, earning, and spending money. Franklin First organized several financial carnivals to coincide with mentoring sessions with local ‘bigs’ (Age 16-18) and ‘littles’ (ages 8-11) as a fun, educational alternative to their normal mentoring sessions. The carnivals involved a series of games designed to identify currency, separate wants from needs, recognize expenses, and experience financial gains and losses, all while tracking their earnings and expenses in a savings register to save up for a fun prize at the end of the night.

“Our community partnership with Big Brother Big Sisters of Franklin County has been integral in the credit union being able to offer financial education to a younger demographic,” said Michelle Dwyer, president and CEO of Franklin First. “Their participation allows us to engage two different generations at once within their Friday-night mentoring programs.”

Franklin First received Silver in the category of credit unions with less than $500 million in assets.