When we noticed PenFinancial Credit Union employees using the #Loyal2LocalChallenge hashtag on social media when shopping at local businesses we were excited to learn more about this local support initiative. We reached out to Kerry Ould, Chief Marketing Officer at PenFinancial and she explained to us what the Challenge is all about.
“As a thank you to our employees for the flexibility and commitment to serving our Members during the pandemic, and to show our gratitude to our local businesses who keep the Niagara and Haldimand communities strong, PenFinancial joined other credit unions to spark a wave of support by encouraging small purchases from locally-owned businesses.
It’s called the loyal 2 local challenge! At PenFi, we are loyal to local! And that’s why we gave every team member $25 to purchase a product, service, or gift card/certificate from their favourite local business.
This supports our employees, local businesses and our community. The business could be a local restaurant, bakery, hardware store, bookstore, gift store, pet sitter, hair stylist, or any other local business our employees wish to support that is permitted to be open during this time. While local restaurants are in great need, we encouraged everyone to think beyond dining options to other categories.
When they made their purchase, we asked that they let the business know they are purchasing on behalf of themselves and PenFinancial Credit Union as part of our #Loyal2LocalChallenge. Let them know that, together, we continue to find ways to support our local business community.
Employees were encouraged to share their experiences on social media and tag the small businesses they chose to support.
In support of the Loyal 2 Local Challenge, PenFinancial is also worked with our partners at Brand Blvd to support their “Wearing is Caring” campaign which gave locally themed t-shirt to all our truly local employees. The proceeds from the t-shirts support local organizations, including Niagara Health Foundation, Hotel Dieu Shaver, Gillian’s Place and Community Care.
Our Challenge runs until the end of this week (July 10) and we’ve already seen some great activity by our employees using the #loyal2localchallenge hashtag on social media. It’s also sparked some great conversations among friends and colleagues at other organizations.”
Thank you to PenFinancial Credit Union for this ‘Truly Awesome’ example of your Truly Local commitment to our community.
