Sometimes, all that’s needed to bring people together is a single act of kindness. It’s because one act spurs another, which spurs another, and has a chain reaction felt by everyone in the community. Social Assurance’s 2022 Community Spark Awards 2nd place winner, NorthRidge Community Credit Union, demonstrated the remarkable effect that happens when we all work together through their “Local Dough” campaign.
To spread kindness around the communities, NorthRidge Community Credit Union kicked off Local Dough by having its employees conduct regular Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) around the communities where their five branches are located. The RAKs are paid for by NorthRidge Community Credit Union, and employees have paid for gas, groceries, coffee, dinners, and more for community members.
As of April 2022, over $250 had been spent on community RAKs. As employees conduct their RAK, they give the recipient a notecard that encourages them to pay it forward by conducting their own RAK in the community (people are encouraged to help their neighbors shovel snow, help someone haul groceries to their vehicle, pick up trash in local parks, or buy someone’s coffee or lunch). Those recipients that do participate and pay it forward are also able to enter a drawing to win a $500 Visa Gift Card from NorthRidge Community Credit Union.
As of April, there are 12 entrants with stories about how they did something kind in their community. While these numbers may seem small, NorthRidge Community Credit Union is located in a very rural area of Minnesota, so the impact is felt much more than it seems.
As a part of Local Dough, NorthRidge Community Credit Union has been donating fresh-baked bread to local food pantries. Many food banks report that bread is something they do not have regular access to, and NorthRidge Community Credit Union wanted to change that. Over 100 loaves of fresh bread have been donated to 4 different food shelves. These bread donations happen weekly.
Finally, the third part of Local Dough is connecting with local, small businesses. Every Friday in 2022, NorthRidge Community Credit Union has picked up fresh-baked treats from local bakeries and delivered them to a local business as a message of support and unity in the community. Ten businesses have been recipients of these surprise “donut drops,” and this helps to bring their rural areas a little closer together.
Last, but not least, to support local businesses and in keeping with the campaign slogan to “keep your dough local,” NorthRidge Community Credit Union is sponsoring 6 local bakeries, located across the Iron Range in northern Minnesota, to have their own commercials professional filmed and edited by a local, professional filming studio. NorthRidge Community Credit Union is providing $11,000 to have these commercials shot and edited and can be used by the bakeries in any type of advertising they choose. NorthRidge Community Credit Union also hosts these videos for free on their website and social media channels to add more exposure.
The combination of reaching individual community members as well as small businesses with random acts of kindness, regular food donations, and marketing opportunities have been a way for NorthRidge Community Credit Union to deepen their community roots and demonstrate the credit union philosophy of people helping people.
As a 2022 Community Spark Awards 2nd place winner, Social Assurance is proud to donate $200 on behalf of NorthRidge Community Credit Union to a local nonprofit organization of their choosing. The nonprofit they selected was the United Way of NE Minnesota. We are thrilled to be a small part of the remarkable work they have done to give back to their community.
Social Assurance is committed to providing the financial services industry with a suite of software solutions, services, and storytelling tools that help build remarkable financial brands, cultures, and communities. With a mission to empower, ignite, and enable financial brands to be remarkable, Social Assurance now serves over 1,500 financial brands across the country, helping them to leave their mark and be heroes of their community.
