A Global Celebration of People Helping People

White Rose Credit Union has always strives to provide our members with the best financial resources, insights and assistance. We are proud to celebrate the philosophy that by working together, people can improve their financial well-being.

On October 15, 2015, credit unions around the world will celebrate International Credit Union Day (ICU Day). This global movement began in 1948. This year credit unions from all over the world will unite under the theme “People helping people.”

In 1850s Germany, a group of weary workers formed the world’s first credit union. Suffering through an economic downturn and tired of loan sharks exploiting them, they banded together to provide affordable credit to each other. Not-for-profit and governed by and for the people who created them, credit unions gave working-class people a way to break a cycle of debt that had bled them of any financial gains. It showed them for the first time a path to prosperity.

It’s no wonder then that when economic times are hard, credit unions flourish. Credit union membership swelled during the Great Depression and again during the recent Great Recession. Today, there are more than 200 million credit union members worldwide—100 million of them in the United States.

The World Council of Credit Unions, supported by credit unions in the U.S., works to develop credit unions around the world because they believe that every person deserves access to affordable, reliable financial services. As not-for-profit financial cooperatives, credit unions are governed by their members—one member, one vote. In many countries, credit unions offer people their first true taste of democracy.

“Credit unions must do their part. We must share our knowledge, our experience, and our dreams,” World Council Board Chairman Grzegorz Bierecki said earlier this year. “It is the duty of free people to support freedom.”

As a trusted financial resource throughout York County, our focus is and always will be our members. They are our people. Keeping with this year’s theme, we would like to help our members “Pay It Forward.” We will be distributing canned food items to our members so that they can give the items to someone in need.

Each member will be offered a bag with three canned good items and if they so choose, they can add additional items to their bag. We would like members to give away the bag to a neighbor, a family, the food bank, or whomever they know that might be in need. Following their contribution, members are encouraged to ask that person(s) to pay it forward as well.

Join the celebration along with credit union members from all over the world by sharing how White Rose Credit Union has helped you reach your financial goals by using the hashtag #ICUday.

Show your support for credit unions and the many ways they help their community thrive and their members follow their dreams.