From left to right:
Eugene Lockhart, Reginald Barnes, Ira Terrell, me, Jose Guzman, Michael Kiselak,
Jun Anderson, Billy Joe Dupree and Dudley Williams

All these incredible athletes were willing to donate their time. They signed autographs, met with people and as you can see, had their pictures taken as well! They are a fabulous group of men. Thank you to Laura Jojola, Senior Center Manager for the CO-OP Member Center, and also to Christi Braddock who served as my contact point the date of the event. And, special thanks to Dudley Williams for rounding up so many generous souls.

Below is the press release issued for the event, and I was there to photograph the event as it unfolded. More images to come – check my site and FaceBook in the upcoming week…

CO-OP Member Center and CUNA Mutual will be sponsoring a site-wide fundraising activity from 11:00am – 1:00pm on Friday, January 29, in an effort to raise money to donate to the Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund sponsored by CU Aid. To date, the two companies have donated a total of $35,000 to the relief fund.

On January 29, 2010, we are inviting current and former NFL, NBA, and other sports’ celebrities to help us raise money for donations. We are planning to “sell” autographs and pictures with the players as a marketing tool to encourage donations. The fundraising event will be held at the CUNA Mutual building just south of the DFW Airport located at 4950 Amon Carter Blvd; Fort Worth, TX 76155.

CUaid.coop (http://www.cuaid.coop/site/PageServer) is an online disaster relief system organized by the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) and the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU). The credit union movement in Haiti is made up of 175 credit unions serving more than 400,000 members. Money raised is for credit union employees, volunteers and members affected by the powerful 7.0 earthquake that struck the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Additionally, WOCCU is now joining with Food for the Poor (http://www.foodforthepoor.org/)to help the Haitian people face this devastating disaster.

In July 2009, WOCCU (http://www.woccu.org/involved/support/haiti_relief) launched a three-year program to extend financial services to Haiti’s rural poor with funding from the United States Agency for International Development. WOCCU staff members working in Haiti are uninjured and accounted for, but there has been significant destruction to the island. WOCCU has fostered relief and rebuilding efforts during past international disasters, including the December 2004 Asian tsunami, the February 2006 Philippine islands landslide and earthquakes in Peru, El Salvador and Malawi. WOCCU is now accepting donations to provide similar assistance to Haiti and its people.

The National Credit Union Foundation (http://www.ncuf.coop/) dedicates 100% of disaster relief donations to grants. NCUF does not use disaster relief donations to pay for the CUAid.coop web platform, travel to disaster areas, or any of NCUF’s costs to administer the national disaster relief program for credit unions. CUAid is a service that NCUF provides to give back to the credit union community.