BECU awards $15,000 to Turning Point

BECU announced $500,000 in awards to member-nominated non-profits for its 2017 People Helping People recognition.

At a ceremony held on December 5, 18 non-profit organizations received awards ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 across five categories, including Open Doors for Multicultural Families, First Washington, Friends of the Children – Seattle and Outdoors for All Foundation.

This year, more than 230 BECU members nominated their favorite, local non-profits serving the Puget Sound region, Spokane and beyond. The recognized organizations are tackling a broad range of important issues including homelessness, healthcare, education, poverty and hunger.

Turning Point Seattle received $15,000 through the People Helping People Awards to continue their work in the community by investing in at-risk youth and underserved families.

Turning Point says about themselves:

We believe in partnering with local agencies to combine resources that strengthen and support low-income and disadvantaged families, and we have partnered with the City of Shoreline, Shoreline School District, Center for Human Services, YMCA, and many other organizations to that end. 

We do basketball camps, teen nights, and partner with Ballinger Homes Family Support to provide tutoring and afterschool programs. We adopted an after-school program that was being cut due to budget restraints at the Center for Human Services. We offer summer day camps, staff a summer lunch program, send youth to YMCA leadership camps. We cultivate the Twin Ponds local giving garden. 

Since 2013, BECU has donated $970,000 to local charities through the program.

Funding for the People Helping People Awards tripled this year due to BECU’s “Make a Purchase. Make a Difference” campaign. This two-month initiative encouraged BECU members to embrace the people helping people philosophy by helping to raise funds by simply using their BECU Debit Mastercard. For every purchase made with the card, BECU donated one cent toward the People Helping People Awards.

In addition to the funds given to the 2017 award winners, BECU is also granting $3,000 to all past People Helping People Award recipients for a total of $153,000 in further giving.

BECU is a not-for-profit credit union owned by its members. With more than 1 million members and over $17 billion in assets, BECU is the largest credit union in Washington.