Vacaville, CA — This holiday season, Travis Credit Union members and employees are reaching out to the community and people in need by taking part in the Solano, Contra Costa, Napa, Merced and Yolo County Food Banks annual food drive, The Festival of Trees, Christmas Wish 2018, Toys for Tots, and the 2018 Children’s Miracle Network Holiday Stocking Campaign.
Each year Travis Credit Union helps the working poor, seniors, single parents, and the homeless in Solano County through their annual food drive. Credit union employees, members and the general public are encouraged to bring non-perishable foods to all Travis Credit Union branches in Solano, Yolo, and Contra Costa Counties Monday, November 12 through January 31, 2018. Specially printed grocery bags for the drive will be inserted in several local papers including the Dixon Tribune, Fairfield Daily Republic, Contra Costa Times, East County Times and the Vacaville Reporter. Donations will go directly to the Food Bank of Solano, and Contra Costa and the Yolo County Food banks where they will be distributed in the counties that they are received.
Another way Travis Credit Union is helping others this holiday season is through the 2018 Children’s Miracle Network Holiday Stocking Campaign. Travis Credit Union employees and members can purchase and sign as many paper stockings as they want for $1 each to support the health needs of children. The stockings are available for sale and will be displayed at Travis Credit Union branches from November 12 through December 24, 2018. Proceeds from this year’s campaign will go to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and Valley Children’s Hospital Central California in Madera County. Last year members and employees donated more than $8,000
Additionally, Travis Credit Union has been the number one corporate sponsor for the Christmas Wish program for the past seventeen years. In 2018, through chili cook-offs, dress down days and bake sale, employees raised more than $9,297.30 and sponsored 285 children in the program. Through their generous giving, employees ensures that less fortunate children are granted the one wish that they have made for Christmas. How does it work? Children place their wishes on ornaments so that sponsors may buy an appropriate gift for them. Sponsors also made cash donations that were used to purchase gifts. This year, Travis Credit Union will again help children on AFDC/Cal Works, which includes local children of the working poor as well as foster children. The Vacaville Chamber Holiday Mixer which is hosted by Travis Credit Union on December 6, will benefit the Vacaville Boys and Girls Club this year.
This is the fifteenth year that TCU has participated in the Festival of Trees, which benefits The Opportunity House. What started out as a labor of love years ago has become a special holiday tradition in the Vacaville community, one that represents families, fun, giving, and the spirit of the holidays. Churches, businesses, organizations, and individuals, working together for a common cause, have made this all-volunteer-supported festival – the shelter’s primary fund-raiser – extremely successful. Each year the festival presents a forest of beautiful Christmas trees, which are auctioned off to the highest bidder. This year will featured elaborately decorated trees, each with its own unique theme. TCU donated a themed tree entitled “Spirit of the Deer” that raised $3,800 for the Opportunity House. Additionally, Travis Credit Union employees will participate in tree auctions benefitting Dixon Children’s Charities.
As the holiday season approaches, it is time to remember those in our community who are financially unable to provide holiday gifts for their families. Many of our branches will be adopting a family for the holidays. To help meet that need, Travis Credit Union staff work to purchase gifts, new shoes, clothing, toys and sometimes even a Christmas tree for the family. Adopting a family for Christmas is a very rewarding and hands-on way to share holiday cheer with the neediest among us.
To show respect and appreciation, employees will be coming together with the community to honor our fallen Veterans at the Annual Wreath Laying event in Dixon on Saturday, December 15, 2018, at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon.
Employees also participate in Operation Cookie Drop by baking and hand delivering cookies to airmen living on Travis Air Force Base during the holidays. To ensure that all airmen experience holiday cheer at TAFB, Travis Credit Union will sponsor the USO’s Operation Home Away From Home meals to airmen at their duty location on Christmas Day.
“Through these programs and others like them, we are reaching out to people in need,” says Barry Nelson, president and CEO of Travis Credit Union. “We are proud to be helping the community and at the same time making a difference in people’s lives.”
Headquartered in Vacaville, California, Travis Credit Union is a not-for-profit cooperative financial institution serving those who live or work in Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Merced Napa, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, and Yolo Counties. Currently, Travis Credit Union is the 14th largest credit union in California with more than 203,000 members and more than $3.1 billion in assets. As one of the leading financial institutions in Solano, Contra Costa, Yolo, Napa and Merced Counties, Travis Credit Union’s strength lies in its faithful commitment to its members and the community; its solid, secure history; and its long-standing track record of dedicated service.
