New Playground scheduled to be built September 18-22
EDWARDSVILLE, IL – Scott Credit Union has pledged $25,000 to help build a new Rotary Playground in Township Park. The donation will help build a new play space to replace the wooden playground that was removed in 2012 at the park, which is also known as Airplane Park.
“The success of this project depends heavily on community support,” said Rod Vaught, Rotary Club president. “We truly appreciate Scott Credit Union’s support, it has been extremely gratifying to have corporate leaders take such a proactive role to ensure the completion of the project.”
The Edwardsville Rotary Club began a rehabilitation project on the playground in spring of 2012. It quickly became apparent that the 22-year-old wooden structure would need to be completely replaced. The Rotary Club, the Township and District 7 are teaming up on the project.
“The Rotary Club representatives came to us looking for community partners to help with the cost of building a new playground on the same site,” said Scott Credit Union Community Relations Supervisor Ashleigh Deatherage. “With our Home Office here in Edwardsville and our ‘People Helping People’ philosophy, we felt like this was a great project and we should give our support.”
The club built the original playground in 1991. The massive structure was completed in five days thanks to many volunteer hours of labor and resources. The original playground was projected to have a life of about 20 years.
“We really like the idea of the businesses and people of the community coming together to build the new playground,” Deatherage added. “We understand how important it is to give back to the community and this is a great way for Scott Credit Union to be involved.”
The actual construction of the new playground is planned for September 18-22, 2013. It will require lots of volunteer labor from the community. The Rotary Club has hired Leathers & Associates, who assisted the community for the original build 20 years ago, to provide the design of the new playground.
Representatives from Leathers & Associates asked Edwardsville students in kindergarten through fifth grade for their ideas for the new playground. The few of the ideas were a twisting slide, rocking airplanes, a pirate ship and a dinosaur climbing wall.
“Credit unions are really about helping people and this is another way for us to take that even a step further,” Deatherage said. “We encourage others to step forward and give back by supporting this great community project.”
Scott Credit Union has made giving back to its communities a major priority. The local credit union contributed about $275,000 and its employees volunteered over 2,300 hours to a variety of local civic efforts throughout the region in 2012.
“We realize that without our members and the communities in which we serve, we would not exist as a financial alternative,” Deatherage noted. “Supporting our communities is very important to us.”
The credit union has increased its community involvement in the past few years while also increasing its efforts to educate consumers of the value of doing their financial business with a not-for-profit credit union.
“We want people in the area to know more about the value of doing business with a credit union,” she added. “That is why we have focused our time on educating area residents about Scott Credit Union. One of the big ways we’ve done that is through our community involvement.”
Scott Credit Union is open to anyone who lives or works in an 17 county area, including Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Perry, Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Clinton, Marion, Bond, Macoupin, Montgomery, Fayette, Effingham, Williamson, and Jackson counties. Anyone who lives or works in St. Louis County, Mo., also can open accounts with SCU. Additionally, anyone active or retired military also can have accounts with Scott Credit Union.
Scott Credit Union currently has 15 area locations: Scott Air Force Base, East Belleville, Fairview Heights, Collinsville, O’Fallon, Edwardsville, Waterloo, Highland, Caseyville, West Belleville, Millstadt, Mascoutah, Troy, Wood River and its Home Office in Edwardsville.
For details on opening accounts at Scott Credit Union, visit www.scu.org, call 1-800-888-4728, or stop by any of the credit union’s branches.