CUs help Cherry Blossom runners: Year seven and counting

WASHINGTON (4/6/09)—For seven consecutive years, credit union volunteers, hoping to drive home the credit union message "people helping people," hit the National Mall by 6 a.m. Sunday to stow the gear of runners in the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run.

A long patch of rainy, gray weather cleared for the 13,000 runners at the event, which included hundreds of participants representing Capitol Hill.

Pat Keefe, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) vice president of communications and media outreach, who coordinates the volunteer effort for CUNA, said Sunday, "The most important thing I think we get out of this annual exercise is showing the people running the race the credit union difference in action."

"CUNA folks, for instance, volunteer to help stow runners' valuables, keeping them safe and organized during the race," said Keefe. "We've done this in the rain, in flurries--even on an occasional nice morning like this one. Our intent is to help runners--many of whom are from Capitol Hill--make a connection between credit unions and 'people helping people.'"

Among Keefe's crew of volunteers were CUNA staff and their family members, and helpers from the National Credit Union Foundation, the American Association of Credit Union Leagues, and the Association of Corporate Credit Unions.

Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc. (CUMD), sponsor of the 37th annual Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run, raised $1 million to benefit Children's Miracle Network and its 170 affiliated children's hospitals nationwide. With this year's donation, CUMC will have contributed a total of $4.6 million to children's hospitals since its inception in 2001.

courtesy of cuna.org