NorState Federal Credit Union
donates coin sorter fees to American Red Cross
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Officials with the American Red Cross say a recent donation from NorState Federal Credit Union couldn’t have come at a better time.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
TIMELY DONATION — NorState Federal Credit Union recently donated $1,687 to the American Red Cross. The money was collected from a fee charged on the credit union’s coin sorter machine in Madawaska. Pictured are, from left: Denise Duperré, marketing director for NorState FCU; Susan Whitehead, NorState’s chief executive officer; Joyce Knorr, community manager of the American Red Cross in northern and eastern Maine; Jan Lucas, ARC advisory board member; Julie Bradstreet, past chair of the advisory board; and Dennis Drew, advisory board vice chair. Knorr said the donation is particularly timely as there have already been three house fires in Aroostook County since Jan. 1.
“We’ve seen an influx of fires this winter due to misuse of space heaters or wood stoves, or not having working smoke detectors,” said Joyce Knorr, community manager of the American Red Cross in northern and eastern Maine. “There have been three house fires since Jan. 1 (Presque Isle, Sherman and Houlton), and we have provided services to well over 15 families in the last two months.”
NorState’s donation, Knorr said, is earmarked toward disaster services.
“That’s the money that families receive when they’re displaced from their home and they need emergency shelter, food and clothing, as well as medication replacement,” she said. “NorState has been a partner of ours over the years with our Real Heroes Breakfast, but that partnership is growing every year. They’re very faithful to us and we appreciate their support.”
Last Wednesday, NorState FCU donated $1,687 to the American Red Cross at a check presentation at the Presque Isle branch. The money was collected from a fee charged on the credit union’s coin sorter machine in Madawaska.
“We have a coin sorter that we purchased at the beginning of 2014,” said Denise Duperré, marketing director for NorState FCU. “It recognizes plugs, car wash tokens, Canadian money and sorts it out. It’s very precise, and the coins go into money bags and you get a printed receipt. Then you go to a teller and they cash out your receipt.
“There’s a fee for using the coin sorter — 2 percent for members and 5 percent for non-members. The fee is withdrawn from your total, and all those fees are saved in an account until the end of the year. Anybody can walk into the credit union and use the coin sorter, which will accommodate everything from a pocketful to a barrelful of change,” she said. “Since we’re a credit union and not profit-based, we wanted to take the small fee that we do charge and put it back toward a charitable contribution.”
Duperré said the American Red Cross was a logical first choice.
“The American Red Cross was an easy pick for us because they worked with NorState on those big Fort Kent fires a couple years back, and, of course, the flood, so we saw their presence,” she said. “They’re a local entity, and an unsung hero, so it was easy to make them our first charity recipient.”
Duperré said the credit union expects to announce the 2015 fee recipient shortly. A coin sorter has been ordered for the Presque Isle branch and will be delivered in the near future.
