summit credit union

summit credit union

MADISON, Wis. — Summit Credit Union’s 8-week ‘Pay It Forward’ grass-roots charity effort came to a close on May 14 after 798 community members were asked — on camera — “If we gave you $10… what would you do for someone else?” at 20 branch locations throughout the Madison and Milwaukee areas. For the video-taped answers, individuals received $10 — free —with the assignment to Pay it Forward.

Community members are invited to rate the video pledges from June 1-15 at http://www.summitcreditunion.com. Videos are rated on a scale of one to five “stars.” The public can also make comments on the videos.

The video with the highest rating will be announced on Tues., June 23, on http://www.summitcreditunion.com. The winner will receive $500 for themselves and Summit will donate another $500 to the winner’s charity of choice.

Nearly $8,000 poured into the community through Summit’s Pay It Forward initiative, reaching far and wide — from non-profit organizations and schools to neighbors and strangers. In addition to the local communities, Pay It Forward participants have stretched the money across the world — from Honduras, Ukraine and Afghanistan to Mexico, Haiti and Darfur. Over 120 non-profit organizations throughout the world benefitted from participants’ pledges.

History of Pay It Forward:

Summit’s Pay It Forward program is unique in the marketplace and appealed to a wide variety of members and non-members. The program was built upon the “pay it forward” concept, where the good deeds one has received—in this case, $10—is repaid by doing good things for others.

The Pay It Forward concept was first described by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 and popularized by Robert A. Heinlein in his book, Between Planets, published in 1951. In 2000, Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novel, Pay It Forward, was published and adapted into a Warner Brothers film bearing the same name.