LIHU‘E — More than 50,000 credit union members on Kaua‘i will celebrate during Oct. 18-22 when the eight credit unions on Kaua‘i celebrate 2010 International Credit Union Week. Credit unions in the County of Kaua‘i contribute significantly to the economic
LIHU‘E — More than 50,000 credit union members on Kaua‘i will celebrate during Oct. 18-22 when the eight credit unions on Kaua‘i celebrate 2010 International Credit Union Week.
Credit unions in the County of Kaua‘i contribute significantly to the economic well-being of the community and an improved standard of living for all credit union members and their families, states a mayoral proclamation issued by Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. for the occasion.
There are eight credit unions on Kaua‘i with a combined membership of 54,646 and total assets of about $597,914,399, the proclamation states.
Mel Chiba, president and CEO of the Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union accepted the proclamation on behalf of all the island’s credit unions, Tuesday.
With a membership of 32,312, KCFCU has four branches, employing 63 full time employees and four part time employees, it is the largest credit union on the island, getting its start in 1954 to serve its members in the Lihu‘e area, states the USA Credit Unions website.
Construction of a new central office is underway in the Kukui Grove area, and when completed, the KCFCU main offices will be relocated to the new building. Currently, it has branches in Kapa‘a, Kukui Grove, Waimea, and ‘Ele‘ele in addition to its main office on Hardy Street.
Other credit unions on Kaua‘i include the Kaumakani Federal Credit union, which according to the USA credit unions website, has a membership of 730 with a branch in Lawai.
McBryde Federal Credit Union, headed by James Fuji, has a membership of 3,074. Kekaha Federal Credit Union under the guidance of Scot Tsuchiyama boasts a membership of 1,660.
Kimberly Kato represents the Kaua‘i Teachers Federal Credit Union which started in 1938 and currently has a membership of more than 2,575 members with five full time employees in a single office.
Keith Uyeno, represented at the gathering by Charlene Garcia, leads the Garden Island Federal Credit Union that boasts a membership of 5,699 members being served by 12 full time employees from its main office in Lihu‘e.
Recently, the GIFCU conducted a food drive among its membership, raising more than $4,000 for the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank.
Kaua‘i Government Employees Federal Credit Union is led by Corinne King and serves more than 5,420 members since starting in 1947. It boasts 13 full time employees and one part time employee within its main office in Lihu‘e.
The Koloa Federal Credit Union is led by Gene Mizumoto and serves more than 2,860 members with four full time employees and is registered as a Community credit union, urban or rural, which means anyone who lives or works in the community may be eligible for membership.
Credit unions are cooperatives which utilize voluntary resources of men and women in the community for the purpose of redistribution of those resources through productive and providential loans in order to improve the quality of life for members and their families, the proclamation states.
They are member-owned, democratically-controlled nonprofit institutions, dedicated to the principles of cooperation including the education of members regarding the benefits and requisites of thrift and planned, regular savings.
A group of weavers in Rochdale, England was probably the first people to start credit unions in 1844 when they banded together to form the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, states the America’s Credit Unions website.
By selling shares to members to raise capital needed to buy goods at lower than retail prices, the group then sold the goods at savings to its member, thereby becoming the first credit union.
This movement spread to Germany in 1850, Canada in 1901, and following its success there, to the United States in 1908.
For more information, contact any of the eight credit unions.
