American 1 helps replace ash trees in Jackson

American 1 Federal Credit Union is helping to replace city trees with a hefty donation, covering the remainder of the balance left by a Consumers Energy donation.

American 1 is donating $1,947, the balance remaining from the city’s $4,445 cost of replacing ash trees struck down by the emerald ash borer. Consumers Energy gave the city a $2,498 grant to help replace 50 trees, the Jackson Citizen Patriot announced last week.

Hundreds of ash trees had to be removed from the city in recent years because of the invasive ash borer. Tom Steiger, superintendent of cemeteries, parks and forestry for the city of Jackson, is replacing the ash trees with a variety of other native trees.

Without the donations from Consumers Energy and American 1, the funds to plant the replacement trees would have come out of budgeted tax dollars.

“We have had budget cuts,” Steiger said, “so every little extra bit helps.”

Steiger will probably redirect the budgeted funds to cut down a few more ash trees and plant replacements.

“It frees up a few thousand dollars so I can do more things for the city,” he says.

American 1 gives $19,000 in scholarships

We were proud to hand out 19 $1,000 scholarships to deserving, altruistic high school graduates yesterday.

These students embody what it means to give back to the community in a selfless way, and we salute all the winners from the counties that American 1 serves.

The 2009 Community Involvement Award winners are:

• Samantha Allen (Leslie High School)
• Samuel Eder (Lumen Christi High School)
• Veronica Clayton (Homer High School)
• Lindsay Youngren (Columbia Central High School)
• Dylan Combs (Hanover-Horton High School)
• Cyle Rigotzke (Hanover-Horton High School)
• Ashley Clemons-Sanford (Napoleon High School)
• Robert Cooley (Hillsdale High School)
• Julie Lenardson (Western High School)
• Amanda Weaver (Marshall High School)
• Janelle Fraley (Bellevue High School)
• Elizabeth Hayes (Lumen Christi High School)
• Andrea Farmer (Springport High School)
• Brian Edwards II (Homer High School)
• Kylie Boehlke (Concord High School)
• Rico Bailey (Battle Creek Central High School)
• Robin Kocher (Lumen Christi High School)
• Crystal Kotowicz (Michigan Center High School)
• Amanda Bittle (Jonesville High School)

Congratulations, and thanks to Sam, Dylan, Brian, Julie, Andrea, Samantha, Crystal, Amanda, Robin, and Kylie (above) for attending our scholarship banquet yesterday morning.

Stay tuned next January for another opportunity to apply for our community involvement scholarship. In the meantime, give back to your community in ways that mean something to you.

Chelsea Supermarket Sweep collects $1,000 in food items for Faith in Action

Eight teams participated in our Chelsea Supermarket Sweep at Country Market this past Wednesday. The race collected 369 food items for Faith in Action’s food pantry worth more than $1,000.

Much like our other Supermarket Sweeps, the rules of the Chelsea race are simple: teams race around the store with a grocery cart, grabbing one of each of the 60 available items. Whoever collects the most items wins, and all the collected items go directly to charity.

Several teams showed up early Wednesday to scope out Chelsea’s Country Market.

“I shop here all the time,” Babette from the Chelsea Senior Center said. “I should know where everything’s at.”

The Senior Center’s team had a strategy involving color-coding their list of items and keeping an eye out for the tell-tale yellow signs that marked qualifying items. Perhaps it’s ironic that, for all the planning by the Senior Center, the team earned the “Wobbly Wheel” award – meaning they collected the fewest items.

“We still feel good about it,” Babette said. “It’s all for the cause.”

The Chelsea Milling Company earned first-place honors by collection 58 items worth $150. Reinhart Realtors took second, and Jackson’s own K105.3 FM team placed third.

Head to our Flickr page to see photos from the event.

Thanks to all the team who participated!

New Supermarket Sweep location collects $1,600 worth of groceries

Since Felpausch is closed in Jackson, we switched our annual media Supermarket Sweep location to the Polly’s Country Market on Ferguson Rd.

The teams weren’t dismayed by the new location, however, collecting 576 grocery items worth $1,677.27 for the Food Bank of South Central Michigan on Tuesday, April 14.

Twelve teams raced around Country Market collecting specific food items. Most teams were made up of local media companies, like the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Jackson Magazine, The Salesman, and JTV.

Our own American 1 team certainly did better than last year: Shandi, Janelle, and Tina (above) earned third place by collecting 55 items worth $157.64.

“There are no losers in this event,” said Bob Randels, Executive Director of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan. “Every can of food that is collected goes to feed a hungry person and doing that makes them all winners.”

Check out pictures from the event on our Flickr page.

Donate your change at Pak Mail for good cause

Pak Mail, our partners at Project: Zero Waste, are launching a “Keep the Change” donation campaign to help local families in need.

Pak Mail is joining the “Neighbors in Need” initiative to raise $650,000 to help 500 families in Jackson. It is a collaborative community effort to provide utility bill and food assistance spearheaded by United Way and 30 other local groups.

At Pak Mail, giving is easy: just donate your loose change leftover after you’ve shipped or mailed your materials. Pak Mail will take all the loose change over a month and donate it to “Neighbors in Need.”

Do your part at Pak Mail’s location, over at 1737 Spring Arbor Rd. If you have any questions about the program, contact Kelly Sowers at (517) 787-9966.

American 1 scholarships earn a ‘thank you’

Just wanted to share a nice note we got from Michigan State Rep. Kenneth Kurtz, congratulating American 1 on giving out two $1,000 college scholarships to Hillsdale-area graduates last year.

“I encourage you to keep up the good work,” Rep. Kurtz writes (click the image to see the full letter).

We’re going to follow his advice with a new round of scholarship recipients this year. The scholarship application is due tomorrow, February 27, so be sure to get it in!

Getting crazy at Crazy Bowl

What can we say? We like to have fun.

American 1 participated in Junior Achievement’s Crazy Bowl fundraiser last Friday. We sponsored nine teams, and raised a bunch of money for JA’s efforts to teach economics and business in local schools.

This year’s theme was “Movie Mania,” and one of teams – dressed as Shrek and and the gang (above) – won “Best Costume.”

American 1 is proud to participate in JA’s Crazy Bowl every year. Check out more photos on our Flickr page.

December 2008 membership gas card winner

A big congrats to Travis S., our December membership referral winner. Travis wins $500 worth of gas cards for referring his co-worker, Otis.

Travis told Otis that American 1 would be a great place to get a truck loan.

“American 1 is pretty good,” he told him.

For that piece of advice, Travis wins $500 worth of gas cards.

Our GreenBack group for December was the MacCready Reserve in Liberty Township. We learned about the MacCready Reserve thanks to a Jackson Citizen Patriot article. The reserve is open from dawn to dusk, even in January, for cross-country skiers and hikers – and in the summer for joggers and bikers. We had 175 new members referred to us in December, meaning we donated $350 to the reserve.

And so ends our GreenBack program. Thanks to everyone who referred a new member. Stay tuned for details on our 2009 membership promotion.

October GreenBack group: Leila Arboretum Society

Pay a visit to the Leila Arboretum Society in Battle Creek and you’ll be visiting a place dedicated to plants. Appreciation of plants, planting of plants, education about plants – it’s a peaceful, sprawling place that fosters wonder in children and green thumbs for adults.

The Arboretum was American 1’s October GreenBack organization. For each new member referred to us in October, we donated $2 to this “green” group. We had 114 new members referred, which means we gave a gift of $228 to the Society’s endowment fund.




Brett Myers, LAS’s interim executive director (above), gave me a tour of the Arboretum this week on a sunny, warm, picturesque fall afternoon. The Society works on repairs and databasing plants in the fall and winter, Myers said, and when I showed up he and several workers were replacing the plastic on top of the horticulture greenhouse, a 6,000 square foot facility dedicated to raising plants.

Myers said the Leila Arboretum Society has three main areas of focus: community beautification, adult and children educational programming, and the Arboretum’s stewardship.




We drove around the Arboretum (above), a mile-long loop with walking trails and dedicated gardens.

“Some of these trees have been around since the 1920s,” Myers said. “The Arboretum is like a museum for trees.”

For its adult educational focus, LAS hosts a Master Gardner program, and has trained 1,000 Master Gardners over the years. For the kids, there’s the Children’s Garden, with areas like the “zoo garden” (where all the plants are named after animals) and the “ABC garden” (one plant for each letter of the alphabet). Since Battle Creek is the “Cereal City,” there’s a cereal garden with fruits, grains, and even a cow to represent the milk.




LAS hosts school groups and garden groups, and features programming year round. Visit the Society’s web site to learn more about this fantastic organization.

There’s just two more months left in our GreenBack membership drive, so be sure and pick up a referral card. When you refer friends and family to American 1, you’re entered to win a $500 gas card.

Video: how credit unions give back

This video, from Young & Free Alberta, perfectly illustrates American 1’s philosophy in regards to community giving. You can write a check (like some banks do), or you can do the hard work yourself and get involved in the community.