Member News

School vacation is right around the corner! Let us help you beat the boredom with some budget-friendly activities!

Holiday lights! Pack some snacks, a thermos of hot cocoa, fill up the car, and you’re off! Keep children busy by having them keep track of their favorites.

Sledding! Invite some friends, dress warm, and grab a sled, it’s time to hit the slopes. Race each other to the bottom!

Make snow angels and snowman! Nothing like getting all bundled up and playing around like when we were kids so be sure to join your children outside! Adding food coloring and water in a spray bottle allows you to create a winter wonderland!

Snowshoeing! This is a fun and healthy way to get outside and enjoy the winter landscape and discover new trails.

Campfires and s’ mores! Not just a summer activity. Bundle up and enjoy a fire and some s’ mores any time of year!

Ice skating! A great way to have fun both inside and outside. Bundle up the kids and their friends and get out on the ice!

Day Dates! Lunch and a matinee are a budget-friendly alternative to dinner and a movie.

Night Dates! Getting dressed for a night out on the town, try a play at the local theater.

Game night! Invite friends and family over for a potluck dinner and games.

Picnic! Turn your living room into a perfect picnic spot. Have the kids grab a towel to sit on, their lunchboxes and enjoy!

Gingerbread house! Whether you start from scratch or out of a kit it’s all about having fun! Invite your kids’ friends over and then have them all vote for their favorite!

Pizza for dinner! Have the kids create their own pizzas for dinner! 

Have any budget-friendly activities? We’d love to hear them, send them to Carrielyn Reynolds at creynolds@newdimensionsfcu.com.

Once again, we will be participating in our Annual Giving Tree program that is hosted by the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program (KVCAP).

Each year we are supplied with the names and items needed from several local families who are in dire need of help during the Christmas season. You can get these tags at any one of our locations.

If we all do just a little bit, we can make sure everyone has a very Merry Christmas! Tags will be available in the first week of December and all gifts need to be dropped off no later than December 20th! We appreciate your help.

With winter beginning to make its arrival, we’re hosting another lobby raffle. This time, we’re raffling off a range of different prizes that appeal to everyone! All proceeds will go to the Central Maine Fire Attack School in honor and memory of Captain Scott Higgins.

Drawing will be held on December 23rd!

Prizes include: Quadcopter Drone with Wi-Fi Camera, 2 Tickets for Cabbage Island Clambakes, $200 Worth of Flagship Cinemas Savings, a Jewelry Set, and a Family Games Bundle.

Stop in to 12 Monument Street in Winslow to get your tickets!

Our Financial Education Coordinator does a blog on various topics each month that we think you will really like. There are tips and resources that you will likely use at one time or another but sometimes it’s just thought-provoking subject that may help you to see a different perspective. Visit her blog here!

Check out her latest blog on Paying it Forward below.

Hello All,

This month I’d like to share a personal story about “Paying it forward” during the holidays. As you may know, this time of year can be difficult for many people for different reasons, especially when it comes to finances, but I think there are ways to spread love and joy without breaking the bank.

As a child, I remember seeing giving trees prominently displayed in most department stores and often peeked at the tags to see what children and family had requested for presents. I wished I could help but being a child who didn’t make any money, I felt there wasn’t anything I do. However, once I was older and acquired a job, I was able to get tags from the tree and fulfill a couple of holiday wishes for local children. What a great feeling!

When I became a mother, I focused on my own children, as money was very tight, and I so wanted to make their Christmas as magical as possible. It was when they began asking me about the giving trees that I explained to them that Santa just needed a bit of help sometimes to make sure all the little boys and girls got the things they asked for. So, it was then that we began a new Christmas tradition by taking tags off giving trees each year.

Of course, as they got older, we revisited this conversation. I explained to them how sometimes parents had a hard time at Christmas and often couldn’t afford to buy gifts or even the necessities their children so desperately needed. I went on to explain that Christmas wasn’t about the gifts and that the true meaning of Christmas was spending time with family and friends and spreading kindness to everyone. Now that my children understand a bit more, we have started a new tradition. Every year my kids forgo one present and we spend that money to purchase gifts from the giving tree. They usually ask to pick a few tags, so they can help more children.

I was especially happy last year when my kids pooled their money and were able to purchase a bike with a helmet for a little boy. I’ll never forget how excited they were as we wheeled the bike to the tree. My son and daughter were reminiscing about the days when they themselves received bikes for Christmas. They were so excited to ride them that I would let them try them out in the house (due to the snow)  Our tradition teaches my kids to look at the holidays from another point of view and while they are asking for more expensive items (as they do when they get older)  they are aware that there are other children, in our own community that ask for things they need, such as warm clothing, personal hygiene items, and inexpensive toys.

I work on helping my kids understand that paying it forward isn’t something that just happens during the holidays, it should happen all year long! I am teaching them that a small act of kindness can help make someone’s day a little brighter.

Tell me how your family spreads kindness during the holiday season by emailing me at Creynolds@newdimensionsfcu.com. I’d love to hear from you and until then, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and don’t forget to pay it forward. It feels great and the impact you make will last for years to come.

~ Carrielyn

Our Giving Tree is Back! Stop in and pick up a tag from the tree in our lobby at 12 Monument Street in Winslow, Maine. Each tag details a gift in high demand for the Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers’ Christmas Program. You bring back the unwrapped gifts to Winslow Community FCU by December 11th! Our lobby is open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm on Monday-Wednesday, from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm on Thursday, and from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm on Friday!

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