WARREN, Ohio – The latest Affinity Credit Card unveiled by 717 Credit Union will foster early literacy among Trumbull County children.
Part of a partnership between the United Way of Trumbull County and the credit union, the United Way of Trumbull County card was unveiled Tuesday morning in a preschool classroom at McGuffey PK-8 School. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers and 717 mascots joined the preschoolers for storytime.
“It is our goal at 717 to connect everyday transactions to big community initiatives, and today that initiative is the United Way Affinity Card,” said Kim Foster, 717 senior vice president, market executive.
Every time a 717 member uses the card, 7.17 cents is given to the United Way of Trumbull County for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
“This program is so important,” Foster told the 3- and 4-year-olds in the classroom. “It has already provided books to over 6,000 kids just like you and has really impacted over 5,000 graduates in Trumbull County.”
The card also helps break the chain of credit card debt happening across the country, she said. It offers a 7.17% annual percentage rate for balances and purchases made within the first 90 days. That rate is fixed until the balance is paid off, Foster said.
“And to me, this card is not a transaction,” she added. “It’s actually an investment into everyone in this room.”
Christine Cope, CEO of the United Way of Trumbull County, said both 717 and Warren City Schools are strong partners of the agency.
“It’s important that kids have a strong start,” she said. “And as the affiliate of the Imagination Library, United Way of Trumbull County is currently sending out nearly 6,000 books every month to kids across Trumbull County. It supports early childhood literacy. It inspires kids to read, and it also helps build a foundation for lifelong learning before a child ever steps into a classroom.”
Steve Chiaro, Warren City Schools superintendent/CEO, called it an investment in the community. He pointed to 717, United Way, Mayor Doug Franklin and the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, lauding the partnership the school district shares with each.
“So when we talk about the impact that the United Way of Trumbull County has on our literacy programs here in the Warren City Schools, it goes much deeper than that,” Chiaro said. “The Warren City Schools, over the last decade and beyond, has climbed out of an area of academic distress to an area of academic success, and that’s due to our great partners …”
United Way has supported the schools every time the district has asked, he said.
“And we have built this partnership over time for faces like the ones in front of us today – the priceless, valuable children – their success and their future,” the superintendent continued.
Dorian Smith, senior vice president for marketing and business development at 717, said the credit union’s mission is simple. It’s to help people improve their lives financially and to improve the communities the credit union serves. The credit union and the United Way have been partners for more than 30 years, leading as the agency’s largest employer campaign location, he said.
“As Christine [Cope] mentioned, John Demmler is our CEO, and every day he challenges us to do more, to do more in the community, to do more to help people, to do more to help wherever we can – to talk about 717 that’s more than just the financial institution, but being that place where people can come and to realize that we are there with people to help people,” Smith said.
Pictured at top: Back row, from left, are Christine Cope, CEO of the United Way of Trumbull County; 717’s Dollar Dog; Mahoning Valley Scrappers’ mascots Scrappy and Jade; and Dorian Smith, senior vice president for marketing and business development at 717, with preschoolers at McGuffey PK-8 School in Warren.