BALTIMORE (May, 2022) — SECU, Maryland’s largest state-chartered credit union, received an Honorable Mention in the CSR Event category in PRNEWS’ 2022 Social Impact Awards for its Kindness Connects campaign. The Social Impact Awards honor communicators who use their platforms to better their community and the global community at large. Winners are the campaigns, initiatives, professionals, teams, rising stars and lifetime pioneers that are helping to usher in a diverse, equitable future and redefine organizations’ roles in the fight for global change.
“SECU has always been dedicated to strengthening and enriching the lives of our neighbors in the communities where we live and work. Encouraging and celebrating kindness was a natural extension of this commitment and our goal of helping Maryland thrive,“ said Becky Smith, EVP and Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at SECU. “We’re incredibly proud of the amount of support Kindness Connects has received, and we look forward to continuing to grow the initiative with the launch of our third annual kindness campaign later this fall.”
Launched in October 2021, Kindness Connects was SECU’s second annual, month-long kindness campaign. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact communities and leave many craving a sense of connection, Kindness Connects was uniquely designed to do good and build unity across Maryland and beyond. Through Kindness Connects, SECU aimed to inspire 70,000 acts of kindness in honor of its 70th anniversary, while furthering the mission of the SECU MD Foundation and programs that increase access to education, health and wellness, and community development across the state.
Employees, members and partners, as well as the general public, were encouraged to be kind and inspire others to do the same through complimentary Kindness Kits, which contained items and ideas to perform acts of kindness within the community. For every Kindness Kit requested, SECU donated $5 on behalf of the SECU MD Foundation to Special Olympics Maryland and Kennedy Krieger Institute. Participants were asked to help SECU track its goal by submitting their acts of kindness on the Kindness Connects microsite.
As a result of the campaign, SECU successfully raised $50,000 for the SECU MD Foundation and its charity partners Special Olympics Maryland and Kennedy Krieger Institute. SECU also distributed more than 12,000 Kindness Kits across Maryland and 12 other states, resulting in more than 96,000 acts of kindness and proving that one act of kindness can have a far greater reach than the act itself.
This year’s winners were recognized at the PRNews’ Social Impact Summit, which draws 200-300 PR and Communications professionals from top corporations, agencies and nonprofits each year, on April 20, 2022. To view the complete list of honorees, visit https://prnewsonline.com/go/2022-social-impact-awards.
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