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Katarina Finney latest Helping Teachers Teach winner

Katarina Finney, fifth grade teacher at Mountain City Elementary, is the latest Northeast Community Credit Union Helping Teacher’s Teach winner.

Finney applied for the Helping Teachers Teach grant to help promote fifth-grade science. The award will be split between STEM activities for classes, new flexible seating options and literature promoting science education.

“This project will enhance the learning experience of my students by making science more engaging and hands-on,” Finney said. “I believe it will promote higher student motivation and better work quality.”

Northeast Community Credit Union awards $300 every month to a classroom to be utilized for classroom needs, classroom activities, and academic enrichment. Helping Teachers Teach is open to teachers within Carter, Johnson, Unicoi, Sullivan and Washington counties who are members of Northeast Community Credit Union.

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NCCU Donates to Recovery Soldiers Ministries

Northeast Community Credit Union’s Board of Directors includes Recovery Soldiers Ministries in their Man accepts donation check from womancommunity sponsorship efforts. NCCU Community Engagement Director Kathy Campbell recently presented a $500 donation as part of the annual partnership to Recovery Soldiers Ministries Program Director Ben Cole.

“Recovery Soldiers Ministries provides a tremendous service to our community,” Campbell said. “We want to support them as they continue to help those in need. We are all about sharing, caring, and giving back in our communities. That’s the real credit union difference.”

Recovery Soldiers Ministries is a faith-based recovery program to help individuals overcome addiction. Students in the program live on campus for a structured year-long inpatient program. Currently, Cole said approximately 30 people are registered in the program. NCCU’s sponsorship will help to defray the cost of operating the recovery program.

“This is going to change lives,” Cole said. “It is a God-send, a real blessing. There are tremendous expenses that go into running a recovery program. Northeast Community Credit Union’s donation will help us continue to meet day-to-day needs.”

Along with the inpatient program, Recovery Soldiers Ministries has outpatient sessions to deal with struggles in all areas of life and conducts weekly worship services led by Cole and RSM President Josh Scalf. The ministry also has a thrift store to help support their programs.

Northeast Community Credit Union has been serving the community since October 1952 when it was chartered as a credit union by the State of Tennessee. Northeast Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative. It is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Carter, Johnson, Washington, Unicoi and Sullivan counties along with their immediate family members.

For more information on Recovery Soldiers Ministries visit https://recoverysoldiersministries.org.

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SCAM ALERT: Mortgage Postcard Scam

SCAM ALERT: Postcards are showing up in the area claiming to have important “time sensitive” information on your mortgage. These are a scam. If you receive one of these postcards, you do not need to call the 1-800 number on the card and you do not need to take any further action. Simply throw the card away.

 

Check Presentation Photo
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NCCU sponsors new Kids Like Us program

Northeast Community Credit Union is helping to sponsor the Kids Like Us Community Learning Check Presentation PhotoCenter’s Magic Movement Program.

KLS Director Lisa Lyons explained the Center is partnering with local businesses and individuals to provide a fitness and nutrition program for students at Kids Like Us. Kids Like Us is a community center that provides educational and social opportunities for individuals of varying abilities in Northeast Tennessee.

“Fitness and healthy living are something our clients struggle with,” Lyons said. “Some of them are overweight. It is hard for them to go to the gym because of sensory issues.”

Lyons is working to bring the gym to them. She has partnered with local personal trainers, physical therapists, gyms and nutritionists to create a healthy living program for Kids Like Us clients.

The professionals will come to the KLU center, help develop an on-site gym and a program for the clients to follow. They will also address nutrition and healthier eating choices. On days the volunteers can’t come to center, students will use a large-screen TV to take part in interactive training programs and activities.

NCCU also sponsors the Kids Like Us Teen Apartment which helps teens at KLU learn socialization and occupational skills as well as learn independent living skills.

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Abbreviating 2020 could leave you open to fraud

The new year is giving scammers an easy way to forge documents, but you can protect yourself with an easy New Year’s resolution: Stop abbreviating the year.

Why? This year’s abbreviation is easily changeable and could be used against you. The concern is that scammers could easily manipulate a document dated “1/1/20” into “1/1/2000” or even “1/1/2021.”

Writing out the full date “could possibly protect you and prevent legal issues on paperwork,” according to Hamilton County, Ohio, Auditor Dusty Rhodes.

While it’s early in the year for examples of this kind of fraud to emerge, the threat is real according to Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

In a message emailed to USA TODAY Thursday, Rheingold said scammers could use the method to establish an unpaid debt or to attempt to cash an old check.

“Say you agreed to make payments beginning on 1/15/20. The bad guy could theoretically establish that you began owing your obligation on 1/15/2019, and try to collect additional $$$,” Rheingold wrote.

In the future, post-dating could be a problem too. For example, a check dated “1/1/20” could become “1/1/2021” next year, possibly making the uncashed check active again, Rheingold wrote. A similar method could be used for debts that are past the statute of limits.

The solution is easy: There’s no harm in writing the full date. Writing the month out can also help.

Write this: January 15, 2020. Not this: 1/15/20.

–Article originally published on USAToday.com

Ben Smith presents the Helping Teachers Teach to Amy Ensor.
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Amy Ensor is December Helping Teachers Teach winner

Amy Ensor, second grade teacher at West Side Elementary, is the latest Northeast Community Credit

Ben Smith presents the Helping Teachers Teach to Amy Ensor.

Northeast Community Credit Union Ben Smith presents Amy Ensor with the Helping Teachers Teach check.

Union Helping Teacher’s Teach winner.

Ensor applied for the Helping Teachers Teach grant to purchase Seat Sacks for each of her students. The seat sacks go on the back of the student’s chair and will be used to store the students’ Accelerated Reading Program books, keeping them in reach for when they are needed. Currently, the AR books are kept in lockers in the hallway outside the classroom.

“Each day we spend 30-45 minutes independently reading at our desks for the Accelerated Reading Program,” Ensor said. “If the students have access to their books, they can spend more time reading without interruption. Research has shown that reading increases learning and will drastically improve comprehension.”

Northeast Community Credit Union awards $300 every month to a classroom to be utilized for classroom needs, classroom activities, and academic enrichment.  Helping Teachers Teach is open to teachers within Carter, Johnson, Unicoi, Sullivan and Washington counties who are members of Northeast Community Credit Union. Area teachers may become members at any NCCU location and can download the grant application on the credit union’s website:  www.BeMyCU.org.

Velda Sizemore, NCCU Member Service Specialist, presents ARM Executive Director Faye Ingram with a donation of $500 for Assistance and Resource Ministries’ programs
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Northeast Community Credit Union makes annual donation to ARM

Northeast Community Credit Union presented a $500 donation to Assistance and Resource Ministries

Velda Sizemore, NCCU Member Service Specialist, presents ARM Executive Director Faye Ingram with a donation of $500 for Assistance and Resource Ministries’ programs

Velda Sizemore, NCCU Member Service Specialist, presents ARM Executive Director Faye Ingram with a donation of $500 for Assistance and Resource Ministries’ programs

(ARM) as part of their annual partnership with the non-profit agency.

ARM relies on community donations to provide assistance to 700 to 950 people each month. ARM provides meals, monthly food boxes, clothing, baby supplies, vouchers for additional household needs, referrals to other agencies, employment counseling and much more.

ARM Executive Director Faye Ingram said the donation will be used to help fill in the gaps where clients need it most.

“This is one of the tougher times of the year,” Ingram said. “There is a lot of need in the community, and this donation will help out tremendously.”

NCCU has a long-standing relationship with ARM and has supported the agency throughout the years with fundraisers, volunteer hours and collection efforts.

“ARM diligently works to benefit the needy in Carter County and helps with necessities for people who often slip through the cracks in the system,” NCCU President/CEO Teresa Arnold said. “We are thankful for a chance to help and support their cause.”

To donate to ARM or for more information, call 423-542-0919 or visit http://www.armfoodpantry.com.

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Santa coming to NCCU Main Office

Santa Claus is coming to town, and he’s making a special stop at Northeast Community Credit Union in Elizabethton.

Santa will be available every Friday between now and Christmas from 2-4 p.m. at Northeast Community Credit Union’s main office. The office is located at 980 Jason Witten Way in Elizabethton, directly behind Elizabethton High School.

The public is invited to stop by, share their Christmas wish lists, and take a picture with Santa. Your family will need to bring a camera or phone to snap your photo so no waiting for emails or developing your prints. Your pets are welcome to come visit Santa for your photos, too!

For more information, call the Credit Union at 547-1200.

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NCCU donates popcorn popper to Bonnie Kate

Northeast Community Credit Union donated a new high-capacity popcorn popper to the historic Bonnie Kate Theater.

The theater had been using a smaller popcorn popper which made it difficult to meet demand during events. The new machine will make it easier for the Bonnie Kate to serve its customers.

“It will definitely help,” Bonnie Kate Restoration Board Member John Huber said. “There are times when it was hard to keep up because the old machine would make such small amounts.”

The restoration committee has been working to bring Bonnie Kate back to its former glory. The group has hosted several events at the Theater as fundraisers for the restoration projects.

The next event at the Bonnie Kate will be the Cans Film Festival on Saturday, December 14. This is a joint fundraiser for Bonnie Kate and Assistance Resource Ministry. The festival begins at 1 p.m. and features three movies: The Muppet Christmas Carol at 1 p.m.; A Christmas Carol at 4 p.m.; and Scrooged at 7 p.m. Donations of canned foods will be collected for ARM and a $3 donation for the Bonnie Kate Restoration Project is the suggested ticket admission.

The Bonnie Kate Theater is located at 115 S. Sycamore Street, Elizabethton.

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Amy Hyder is November Helping Teachers Teach winner

Amy Hyder, special education teacher at Elizabethton High School, is the latest Northeast Community Credit Union Helping Teacher’s Teach winner.

 

Hyder applied for the Helping Teachers Teach grant to purchase supplies so her students can plan, shop and prepare a Thanksgiving dinner. Hyder works with 16 students with varying degrees of disabilities, from moderate to severe. One of the goals of her classes is to help students learn and develop life skills, like planning for and cooking a Thanksgiving meal.

 

“This will allow them to use many of the skills they have been working on this year,” Hyder said. “They will plan a menu, learn about budgeting and have a first-hand experience in the grocery store, and ultimately prepare the food. Being able to walk through all these steps will help my students become more prepared for life after high school.”

 

Northeast Community Credit Union awards $300 every month to a classroom to be utilized for classroom needs, classroom activities, and academic enrichment.  Helping Teachers Teach is open to teachers within Carter, Johnson, Unicoi, Sullivan and Washington counties who are members of Northeast Community Credit Union. Area teachers may become members at any NCCU location and can download the grant application on the credit union’s website:  www.BeMyCU.org.