Premier FCU Tours the US Capitol

Seven NC folks traveled to Washington, DC last week to tour the US Capitol Rotunda. Having been one of the lucky ones to go, all I can say is – WOW! (Well -WOW, and isn’t it great that I have a  video camera?!)

The tour came about thanks to the generosity of US Congresswoman Virginia Foxx. It was Foxx who donated the tour in order to help Team Little Guy raise funds for the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation over the summer. Premier FCU bid $7,500 on the dome tour, which was far and away the most money raised for a non-profit in the years that Foxx has been arranging these tours to help worthy organizations.

Foxx was so overwhelmed by Premier’s generosity, she also arranged a tour of the Washington Monument and the White House! As an added bonus, she also allowed us to sit in the gallery of the US House while the Auto Bailout Bill was being debated last week. Foxx even spoke on the House Floor during our time in the gallery!

I think all of us were blown away by Foxx’s generosity, not only in arranging these special tours, but in spending time with us after the House debate concluded. Foxx took us to some parts of the Capitol that are rarely seen by the general public, including the Lindy Boggs Congressional Women’s Reading Room, which originally served as the House Speaker’s private chambers when the Capitol was first built.

The Rotunda Tour was really something else – we climbed up hundreds of steps, and got some really good views of the Apotheosis of George Washington. The videos here do not convey how stunning the scenery truly was. The video above shows the raw footage of the Rotunda Tour, and the below video gives a bit of a history lesson behind the construction of the dome.

Enjoy! And thanks to the folks at Premier (and Congresswoman Foxx!) for allowing me to share this experience!

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Credit Unions Rally Around Hickory’s Family Care Center

John Slack of the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation invited me to travel with him to Hickory on Monday for the presentation of a $9,700 Micro Community Grant to Family Care Center of Catawba County. Family Care Center provides emergency and transitional housing to homeless families in Catawba County.

The aim of the program is to get these families from homelessness to self-sufficiency. In their 20 years of existence, Family Care Center has an astounding 85% success rate!

Kudos to the Foothills Chapter for assisting Family Care Center in applying for the grant. One video shows you a little more about the agency and the grant, while the other shares the true story of one former guest of Family Care Center who has turned her life around after a very dark time six years ago.

Family Care Center is doing wonderful things in Catawba County … and hopefully the generosity of credit unions will help them continue to meet needs in the community.