Member News

On Thursday October 17, 2019, Winslow Community Federal Credit Union will join with 56,000 credit unions around the world in celebration of International Credit Union (ICU) Day. WCFCU will be collecting donations for breast cancer in honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout the week.

The public is welcome to stop by Winslow Community Federal Credit Union at 12 Monument Street in Winslow and celebrate ICU day with fall treats from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Vickie Massey has retired after working for us for 41 years!  We can’t thank Vickie enough for all of her hard work and dedication to our company.  We wish Vickie much happiness in her retirement!

We would like to welcome our newest employees Ron Wood, Missy Brown, Meagan Violette, Natasha McPherson, Charles Merchant and Jacob Michaud to NEL!  We wish you much success in your new careers!

We also would like to thank Tiffany Michaud for 6 years of service and Kate MacKinnon for 10 years of service!  Wow we have exceptional employees!!!!!!!

Winslow Community Federal Credit Union would like to thank all of our members and staff who donated to our Christmas in July & Happiness Happens programs! Today Winslow Community FCU dropped off a bunch of goodies to The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers for their annual Christmas Program! Each year the Christmas Program distributes boxes of gifts and clothing to more than 1,700 financially disadvantaged children throughout the state. The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers Christmas Program is the only Maine program of its kind that provides toys, warm clothes, books, and family games to children ages 12 and younger. We are happy to help such an amazing program! 

I can’t hide it – I love the smell of a fresh pack of crayons! As I strolled down the school supply aisle at a local department store, I imagined what notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, and calculator I would choose if I were a kid again. I even got a little giddy about selecting a new lunch box. I even have photo proof of my excitement; see photo above!

School starts this week for many students and New Dimensions FCU is ready to get back into the classrooms with new engaging lesson plans to teach financial education in grades K-12! In sharing a couple of highlights with you, we’ve purchased fun storybooks to share with the younger kids that teach them how to count money, make change, and encourages them to start saving money! For the middle school students, we have built a large scale, custom Jenga game which will be used to teach budgeting skills. Finally, for the high school students, we have listened to student’s feedback and crafted a new lesson called “Adulting 101” which will show young adults what it really takes to live on their own. Molly and I debuted this lesson with the Upward Bound students at UMF this summer and they were fully engaged in the lesson and after the session was done, I heard many students say, “Adulting is hard…I’m totally going to live in my parent’s basement forever.” It was a good dose of reality, for sure.

So, send your child back to school because we are ready to bring high energy lessons to classrooms all over Kennebec and Somerset counties – our school totes are packed and ready! If you are a teacher and would like us to visit your classroom, please contact me directly at tverzoni@newdimensionsfcu.com or (207) 872-2771.

Have a productive and happy new school year!

Until next time

~ Tanya

New Dimensions Federal Credit Union is proud to be a leader in financial education and believes that achieving financial goals doesn’t happen by accident. It takes knowledge of best practices, a solid plan outlining HOW to reach financial goals, appropriate action steps, and perhaps a little guidance along the way in case life doesn’t go as planned.

As the 2019/2020 school year gets underway, our financial education team is prepared with new interactive lessons that offer various aged students, throughout Kennebec and Somerset counties, important financial lessons! 

It’s never too early to learn good money habits, which is why the financial education team worked so hard to bring valuable financial resources into so many classrooms. During the last school year, the financial education team taught over 1,000 students ranging in grades 3 through 12 on various topics including the importance of saving money, identifying needs versus wants, checkbook reconciliation, effective budgeting, how to maintain good credit, car buying best practices, and more. 

We’re excited to bring new elementary activities to the school system that were designed to teach young children how to count money and begin to make good money decisions. Then with the junior high students, we decided to bring new information that would ensure clearer understanding about how checking and savings accounts work and even a fun activity called “Budgeting Jenga” which will be introduced this fall. Finally, throughout last year, many high school students stated that they needed a better understanding of what it is like to live on their own so we created just that. We will introduce an entirely new financial lesson plan entitled “Adulting 101” which was successfully utilized by students in the summer Upward Bound program. Debit cards, credit cards and other financial concepts such as interest rates and online banking will be also be explained in a new presentation called “How’z it Work?”  

If you are a teacher in Kennebec or Somerset counties and would like assistance meeting the financial education standards in your classroom, a Girl or Boy Scout Leader, or if you are looking for a Junior Achievement volunteer, please contact New Dimensions Federal Credit Union’s Director of Financial Education, Tanya Verzoni at (207) 872-2771 or by email at tverzoni@newdimensionsfcu.com. 

The designation of Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) has been conferred on Melissa Davenport, Account Executive of GHM Insurance in Waterville, Me, following her successful completion of a rigorous insurance education program sponsored by the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors. This accomplishment is affirmed by the President of the Society of CIC, Dr. William T. Hold, Ph.D., CIC, CPCU, CLU. The full CIC credentials were sent to Mrs. Davenport on June 28th, 2019 in official confirmation of the achievement.

The Society of CIC is a key member of The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research, the nation’s preeminent provider of insurance and risk management education.

Mrs. Davenport has demonstrated her professional competence through the successful completion of the five CIC courses and the corresponding comprehensive examinations that focus on all major fields of insurance and insurance management, such as property and casualty, personal and commercial lines, commercial multiline, agency management, insurance company operations, life and health, and risk management.

Melissa Davenport, AAI, CIC
Account Executive

[T] 207-873-5101
[F] 207-873-5784
ghmagency.com

Martha Wentworth of GHM Agency earns Safeco Insurance® Award of Excellence for superior underwriting skill

Waterville, ME— Safeco Insurance has selected Martha Wentworth for an Award of Excellence. Fewer than 5% of insurance agents across the country who sell Safeco Insurance personal lines policies receive this prestigious honor.

Martha provides our clients with the insurance protection they need at the right price,” said Bill Mitchell, owner of GHM. “Safeco shares that same value, and we are thrilled that Martha has been recognized with one of the company’s top honors.”

To receive a Safeco Award of Excellence, an insurance agent must have a strong relationship with Safeco and superior underwriting skills

“Outstanding underwriting and strong partnerships benefit GHM’s customers,” said Martha Wentworth“Because Safeco Insurance supports independent insurance agents as trusted advisors, I am honored to have been selected for the Award of Excellence.”

GHM Insurance
51 Main St
Waterville, ME
207-873-5101

The new school year is right around the corner and Winslow Community FCU helped with the stress of back to school shopping for some local elementary school students. Around 60% of parents report that they find it hard to afford their children’s back to school supplies. The national average cost for back to school supplies is around $685 per household!

Winslow Community FCU realizes that back to school can be a financially stressful time for our members. So to help out, we recently donated school supplies to help five local elementary schools start their school year off right. In total we donated fifty backpacks filled with important supplies such as pencils, crayons, and notebooks to Benton Elementary School, Albion Elementary School, Clinton Elementary School, China Primary School, and Vassalboro Community School! We also provided each school with a teacher box that included tissues, wipes, Dunkin Donuts gift cards, Mid-Maine Chamber Gift Cards and more! We hope this helps our community schools get off to a great start this school year.

For more information contact Robin Doody at rdoody@northernlight.org or 207-861-3022.

Did you know that August is Happiness Happens month? In order to celebrate, Winslow Community Federal Credit Union has decided to extend ourChristmas in July program into August! For the beginning of August we will still be collecting new, unwrapped gifts for the Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers Christmas Program.

Each year, the Christmas Program distributes boxes of gifts and clothing to more than 1,700 financially disadvantaged children throughout the state for Christmas. The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers Christmas Program is the only Maine program of its kind that provides toys, warm clothes, books, and family games to children ages 12 and younger.

Please find downloadable wish lists online at www.wcfcu.com/happinesshappens which you can print and take with you shopping! You can place your donations in the shopping cart in our lobby at 12 Monument St. in Winslow. We are open Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Thursday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, and Friday 8:30 am to 6:00 pm for item drop off! Thank you so much for helping to make the holiday season special for these children! For information call us at 207-872-2636.