Sample Articles

ABC Credit Union Helps Internationally and at Home

Daysi Flores, Ecuador, secured her family's freedom from poverty by leveraging her credit union membership with used greenhouse supplies. Daysi lives in the El Quinch region, where flowers are the second largest export and there are many large flower factories. These flower factories use large plastic tarps the cover the growing green houses.

Daysi used her first credit union loan to launch her own full circle recycling business. She contracts to buy damaged plastic tarp and hoses from several greenhouses. She then trucks these supplies to a recycling center, where they are melted into new sheeting. The new plastic sheeting is then sold to other local greenhouses.

Daysi is just one example of people around the world lifting themselves out of poverty through credit union membership. ABC Credit Union supports development of credit unions in developing countries around the world through its support of World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU). WOCCU has credit union development projects in 15 countries ranging from Afghanistan and Bolivia to Rwanda and Uzbekistan. With support from ABC Credit Union, credit unions can help hardworking poor:

• Experience their first taste of democracy in Central Asia
• Free themselves of debt bondage from heroin growers in Afghanistan
• Receive much needed money transfer in Ecuador from abroad, and
• Ensure the safety of their savings in Rwanda

Daysi is now in her second loan cycle of $300. Without the start up capital from the group organized by WOCCU and supported by credit unions such as yours, she says she would not be able to support her family with this recycling business.

ABC Credit Union Makes Impact in Africa

Having lost his father at age three during Uganda's civil war, Godfrey Senoga dropped out of high school before completing building skills training. The college's motto is 'Be a Job Maker, Not a Job Seeker.'

Godfrey began making garden tools for farmers and traders. With help from his credit union (SACCO), Godfrey was then able to start a household tools shop. The credit union helped him expand the shop later.

Many credit union members around the world are working to lifting themselves out of poverty. ABC Credit Union is working to support their efforts through World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU). ABC Credit Union is a 2005 WOCCU Supporter.

WOCCU has credit union development projects in 15 countries ranging from Afghanistan and Bolivia to Rwanda and Uzbekistan. With support from ABC Credit Union, credit unions help activate social change by offering entrepreneurial opportunities, jumpstarting rural economies and helping economies recover after conflicts.

With his personal growth and successful business, Godfrey has been elected youth leader of the village committee called Local Council and continues to grow his business. He continues his regular savings in his credit union.

Sample News Release

Audience: Your local consumer media, particularly any you advertise with

Suggested distribution: Insert credit union information, then send newspapers, radio and television stations in your membership area. Consider e-mailing, then following with a phone call to ask if they received it and if it might be suitable to run. To further localize the story, suggest your CEO or a board member with international experience is interviewed on why your credit unions want to reach out to the international community.

For Immediate Release

Date: _______________

For More Information:

Your Name: __________________________

Credit Union Name: ____________________

Your Phone: __________________________

Your E-Mail: _________________________

ABC Credit Union Helps Alleviate Poverty in Developing Countries

Everyone deserves access to affordable financial services, but too few have it today. ABC Credit Union, city, made a direct step helping people in developing countries access saving and credit services to raise themselves from poverty.

ABC Credit Union has committed to becoming a 2005 Supporter of the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU). For more than 30 years WOCCU has been at the forefront of alleviating poverty around the world. Credit unions provide a not-for-profit, self-sustaining structure that enables people to end the cycle of poverty.

WOCCU has credit union development projects in 15 countries ranging from Afghanistan and Bolivia to Rwanda and Uzbekistan. With support from ABC Credit Union, credit unions can help hardworking poor:

• Experience their first taste of democracy in Central Asia
• Free themselves of debt bondage from heroin growers in Afghanistan
• Receive much needed money transfer in Ecuador from abroad, and
• Ensure the safety of their savings in Rwanda

To learn more about international credit union development, visit www.woccu.org or call ABC Credit Union at ____________.

Potential Side Bar Article

For more information contact: Kim Johnston, WOCCU, kjohnston@woccu.org

How Can Credit Unions Help?

"Financial services merit a place alongside education, health and infrastructure as one of the pillars to a peaceful world," said James Wolfensohn, President of The World Bank.

Credit unions can provide this fourth pillar necessary to bring all countries to their development potential. World Council of Credit Unions, Inc., (WOCCU) works with individual credit unions such ABC Credit Union, City, and others to build local credit unions around the world helping alleviate poverty and leading to a peaceful world. While building these individual credit unions worldwide, WOCCU also acts as a social change agent:

• During Central American conflicts of the 1980s and 1990s, Guatemala's credit union system continued to operate democratically. When conflicts finally ended, WOCCU was there to help credit unions jumpstart rural economic activity.
• WOCCU was also there as Eastern Europe emerged from communism in the 1990s. As large state enterprises closed doors and laid off workers, WOCCU helped credit union provide members with resources to embrace entrepreneurial opportunities.
• WOCCU was also there after of the most brutal genocidal wars in Africa's recent history ended in Rwanda. When it was time to rebuild, the government looked to local credit unions to restore a shattered economy; it was in these credit unions Tutsis and Hutus sat down and began to work together again.

Members of the World Council include 29 regional and national credit union associations, cooperative associations and business service organizations. Organizations and individuals can also support World Council through its Supporter program.

The vision of "Quality Credit Unions for Everyone" enables millions of people to grow by providing access to affordable financial services. Today, credit unions in 84 countries provide more than 123 million people worldwide with an opportunity to grow through access to safe savings, affordable credit and the chance for a better tomorrow. For more information on credit unions contact ABC Credit Union at __________________.