SECU, Maryland’s largest state-chartered credit union, celebrates the start of Kindness Connects, its second annual, month-long kindness campaign, on Oct. 1. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities and leave many craving a sense of connection, this year’s campaign is uniquely designed to do good and build unity across Maryland and beyond.
Through Kindness Connects, SECU aims to inspire 70,000 acts of kindness in honor of its 70th anniversary, while furthering the mission of the SECU MD Foundation and initiatives that support education, health and wellness, and community development.
“In 2020, SECU and the SECU MD Foundation started our annual kindness campaign because we believe that every act of kindness, no matter how big or small, can make our world a better place, even in the hardest of times,” said Dave Sweiderk, president and CEO of SECU. “Kindness isn’t something you can always see, but it’s what brings us all together. Acts of kindness have a far greater reach and impact than the act itself—they can connect us to friends and family, change the lives of strangers and make our communities stronger.”
Throughout October, employees, members and partners, as well as the greater community, are encouraged to be kind and inspire others to do the same via SECU’s Kindness Kits. Each complimentary Kindness Kit comes with ideas and items meant to spark acts of kindness within the community, including postcards, flower seeds and sidewalk chalk. Request a Kindness Kit online or pick up a kit at a local SECU branch, and download a Virtual Kindness Kit for more ideas on how to spread positivity. For every Kindness Kit requested, SECU will donate $5 to Special Olympics Maryland, a nonprofit providing year-round, life-changing sports training and competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and Kennedy Krieger Institute, an internationally recognized nonprofit in the greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area that aims to improve the lives of children and young adults with diseases, disorders and injuries that impact the nervous system, up to $50,000.
As a grand act of kindness, SECU will also randomly award $1,000 to 16 people through the Kindness Campaign Sweepstakes. Using the golden ticket found inside the Kindness Kit, participants can visit secukindness.org/submissions to submit their acts of kindness and help SECU reach its goal of 70,000 acts of kindness. While there, they can enter their golden ticket number and find out instantly if they are winners.
Additional events and activities have been organized to encourage employees, members and partners to promote even more kindness:
- Day of Kindness – SECU employees will have the opportunity to perform grand acts of kindness during a 24-hour, company-wide Day of Kindness on October 11
- Kindness Breakfast and Lunch Drops – to thank and support Maryland’s frontline workers, SECU will deliver breakfast and lunch to local hospitals, healthcare facilities and schools
- Financial Center In-Kind Donations – SECU’s financial centers will provide in-kind donations, totaling $13,000, of needed supplies to their local communities, organizations and nonprofits, including care packages for essential workers and food items for fire, police and rescue departments
To learn more about Kindness Connects, visit secukindness.org. Help spread the positive movement across Maryland and beyond and keep up with all the good deeds via #SECUKindness.
