SECU has wrapped up its seventh annual Kindness Campaign with a month of service, school activities and charitable giving across Maryland. Throughout October, the campaign brought together employees, nonprofit partners and school communities, including SECU employees who volunteered at the seventh annual Day of Kindness and $50,000 in Foundation grants awarded to ten nonprofit organizations.

Day of Kindness

On Monday, October 12, more than 300 SECU employees gathered at Towson University's SECU Arena to pack meals, assemble hygiene kits and backpacks, and prepare essential supplies. The event benefited 21 partners, nonprofit organizations and communities across the state, including Rise Against Hunger, The Y in Central Maryland, Easterseals, Maryland Book Bank, United Negro College Fund, Kennedy Krieger, Ulman Foundation, Special Olympics and Make-A-Wish, among others.

Together, volunteers packed 85,152 meals, including 75,000 for The Pack Shack and 10,152 for Rise Against Hunger. They also assembled 1,483 hygiene kits known as "flower kits," packed or distributed 2,000 backpacks for The EPICENTER, and assembled 801 diapers and diaper kits for Blessed Provisions Diaper Bank.

The day also featured employee giveaways, including opportunities to win additional time off. Employee giveaways totaled more than $14,500 in value, including partner raffles.

Introducing Captain Kindness

This year marked the debut of Captain Kindness, a lighthearted, employee-led fundraising campaign benefiting the SECU MD Foundation. Together, six employee leaders raised more than $5,300 through 138 individual donations to support Foundation programs, including scholarships, financial education and nonprofit grants.

Bill Atkinson, Senior Manager, Mortgage Originations, earned the first Captain Kindness title as the campaign's top fundraiser, bringing in $1,245 from 21 donors as part of the overall total.

Bringing Kindness to School Communities

SECU and the SECU MD Foundation provided kindness boxes filled with stickers, coloring pages, bookmarks, markers, pens and other supplies to six schools: Northwest Academy and Rossville Elementary in Baltimore County; McCormick Elementary in Baltimore City; Guilford Elementary and Laurel Wood Elementary in Howard County; and Highpoint Elementary School in Anne Arundel County. Each school has a year-round partnership with SECU or the Foundation, and the boxes helped mobilize their school communities around kindness.

SECU's school partnerships also included a Financial Field Day at Rossville Elementary and, in partnership with Iron Rooster, a donated breakfast for all teachers and staff at McCormick Elementary.

Community Partnerships and Giving

The Foundation again partnered with the Charitable Foundation of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors (GBBR). Eight GBBR volunteers participated in Day of Kindness, and more than 200 realtors took part in a kindness activity at the GBBR Realtor Fair on October 16.

The Foundation also awarded $50,000 in grants to ten nonprofit organizations during October, with its primary grantee celebration scheduled for November 17.

Inspiring Kindness Across Maryland

SECU's Day of Kindness is part of the credit union's broader Kindness Campaign, an annual statewide initiative rooted in the credit union philosophy of "people helping people." Launched in 2020, the campaign encourages Marylanders, businesses and community organizations to embrace acts of kindness, volunteerism and generosity, demonstrating how small actions can collectively create meaningful change.

Now in its seventh year, the Kindness Campaign has grown into a collaborative effort that brings together employees, members, nonprofit partners and communities across Maryland. Through volunteer opportunities, charitable giving and community engagement, SECU and the SECU MD Foundation continue to inspire Marylanders to make kindness part of their everyday lives.