Education Credit Union ($479.8M, Amarillo, TX) is celebrating its 90th year of serving the Texas Panhandle. For perspective, that makes the organization older than the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge.
What started in 1935 with 10 Amarillo school teachers pulling together $50 in a shoebox grew to $1 million in assets by 1968 and today is a full-service financial institution that serves more than 40,000 members across 18 counties.
“They ran it out of a school room for years, with a shoebox as their cash drawer,” says Marcus Smith, CEO of Education Credit Union. “To think of where we are now, it really blows me away.”
Intentional About Community Impact
ECU celebrated its 90th anniversary with initiatives that ranged from in-branch celebrations to cash giveaways for members who sign up for financial coaching. Its most ambitious initiative, however, focused on community.
“90 Days, 900 Ways to Serve” called on team members to collectively volunteer 900 hours in the first quarter of 2025. That’s nearly six full weeks of service.
“It ties directly back to our two core values: ‘People First’ and ‘Impact Always,’” Smith says. “We live by those values, not just in our interactions with members, but in how we show up for our communities.”
According to Smith, the credit union has spent the past several years rethinking its community giveback strategy, and its anniversary presented the opportunity for a change of pace.
“We’ve always done community work, but in the past four or five years, we’ve become more intentional, focusing our efforts instead of taking a broad, shotgun approach,” he says.
ECU’s marketing team played an instrumental role in the volunteer initiative, wanting the credit union’s anniversary to remind everyone of its long-standing commitment to its members and community.
“Our overarching theme was ‘90 Years of Serving You,’” says Tiffany Sharpensteen, vice president of marketing at ECU. “So, we decided to see if our team was up for the challenge of donating 900 hours back to the community that’s given us 90 years.”
Snack Pak 4 Kids provides weekend food to thousands of students identified by teachers to address food insecurity and support learning.
ECU is rooted in education, and many credit union employees take time to visit local classrooms for story times and other activities.
As a part of ECU’s “90 Days, 900 Ways to Serve” initiative, employees worked together to sort 6,400 pounds of food for families in the Texas Panhandle.
Employee Buy-In Beats Expectations
ECU didn’t just hit 900 hours. In total, credit union staffers clocked 1,218 hours of service.
“Honestly, we had a feeling we’d exceed it,” Smith says. “We’ve got some pretty competitive people on staff. You give them a number, and they want to beat it.”
Sixty-two team members representing nearly every department participated in the anniversary giveback initiative. Of that, 47 employees completed 10 hours or more. Some departments even had 100% participation, including accounting, HR, learning and development, marketing, and project management.
BY THE NUMBERS
“90 Days, 900 Ways to Serve”:
- 90-day time frame.
- 62 employees volunteered.
- 120 nonprofits and schools served.
- 1,218 total hours volunteered.
“It was really cool because it was a mix of not only supervisors and senior leadership but also front-line employees,” Smith says. “Branch leaders did a great job working around schedules so team members could participate without disrupting operations.”
During the 90-day initiative, the credit union worked with approximately 120 nonprofits and schools, focusing its resources on critical needs that offered high potential for communy impact. According to Sharpensteen, ECU started with organizations on which employees already served on boards and committees.
“That gave us a great foundation to build on and allowed us to deepen those connections and introduce new people to the work,” the marketing VP says.
Some of ECU’s key partners include the High Plains Food Bank, Snack Pack for Kids, Amarillo Angels, and Junior Achievement.
“Given our scholastic roots, we’re especially connected to schools,” Sharpensteen says. “We have a couple of schools where we set aside time to visit, read to kids, serve popcorn to teachers, things like that.”
Smith says causes related to the wellbeing of children hit particularly close to home.
“Our hearts are there,” the CEO says. “It’s emotional seeing kids struggling with basics like food or clothing.”
No Slowing Down
Smith emphasized the dedication of the credit union’s teams in making initiatives like “90 Days, 900 Ways To Serve” possible.
“It’s so much fun to watch them make those connections out in the community,” he says. “And it doesn’t stop just because the quarter ended.”
We don’t have the financial power of billion-dollar banks, but we can still serve with our time and our people.
Throughout the year, the Education Credit Union Foundation supports a variety of education-focused causes throughout the Texas Panhandle. Its primary program is its Pocket Change Grants, with $1,041,039 donated to local teachers from 2009 to 2024. The charity also offers several scholarships to upcoming graduates.
Smith himself says he recently participated in an annual mountain bike and road bike race to raise money for a local cancer survivorship center.
“We don’t have the financial power of billion-dollar banks, but we can still serve with our time and our people,” he says. “And once you start, it’s incredibly fulfilling.”