My dear friends and colleagues:
On behalf of World Council of Credit Unions and the entire credit union
system, I invite you to join me in celebrating International Credit Union Day®
(ICU Day) today, October 16. It's the one day set aside each year to recognize
the important work credit unions do helping members prosper and grow financially
through cooperative ownership of their institutions.
The role credit unions play in their members' lives is gaining even greater
importance in light of the growing global financial crisis. The strength and
empowerment that comes through cooperative ownership cannot be underestimated,
making credit union access more critical to members than it has been in the
past.
This year's ICU Day theme, It Belongs to MeTM, celebrates the
economic democracy and equal ownership rights of each credit union member. But
for many of us, the theme's definition runs deeper, calling out the
responsibility we have to make the world a better place for individuals and
their families to live, work and grow through financial strength and security.
It's an opportunity that only credit unions provide, and the responsibility to
share that good news belongs to each of us within the credit union movement.
In celebrating ICU Day this year you will be joining the more than 177
million members—a record number—served by more than 49,000 credit unions in 96
countries worldwide. Each of us as members has a responsibility to work through
our local, state, national and international associations to remind legislators
and policymakers at all levels about the real value credit unions bring to
members, communities and economies around the globe.
On ICU Day and every day, our credit unions belong to all of us. It is our
responsibility to make sure the world understands the value of credit unions so
that next year even more people can say: “My credit union—It belongs to me!“
For more information, visit www.woccu.org/icuday
to download the graphics you'll need to help celebrate this important event. And
have a wonderful ICU Day!
Wishing you the best,
Melvin R. Edwards
Chairman
World Council of Credit Unions
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