Casual Fridays still count during a pandemic.

Over the past year, employees at Benchmark Federal Credit Union made contributions, so they could wear jeans to work, whether at home or in person. Then, Benchmark FCU opted to match employee contributions and presented a check for $4,200 to the Chester County Food Bank.

“While some credit unions may be limited to a select group of people, we offer membership to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Chester County, and we want to be sure that anyone who is struggling with food insecurity in Chester County is supported as well,” said Daniel J. Machon Jr., President and CEO of Benchmark Federal Credit Union. “It’s also wonderful to know how much our donation counts toward Chester County Food Bank being able to fulfil their goal of providing access to healthy food for our community’s residents.”

Every Friday, Benchmark employees have the option to wear jeans to work in exchange for a donation to a local nonprofit. The collected funds are donated to a different Chester County organization annually, and this year, the staff chose the Chester County Food Bank because of the organization’s ongoing efforts to deliver 10,000 fresh meals to Chester County residents’ doorsteps each month.

The Chester County Food Bank relies on contributions and accepts donations anytime.

“As the central hunger relief organization, we partner with more than 150 agencies in Chester County,” said Chester County Food Bank CEO Andrea Youndt. “We’re so proud to partner with Benchmark Federal Credit Union as we work to mobilize our community to ensure access to real, healthy food.”

Benchmark was recently honored with the 2021 Corporate Partner Award by The Arc of Chester County and named 2020 Business of the Year by the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce.

As the only federal credit union to exclusively serve Chester County, Benchmark Federal Credit Union supports more than 20 community events and organizations each year, including uninterrupted corporate sponsorship during the pandemic of the Chester County Single Mothers’ Conference and Chester County Futures. Also, more teachers and students enjoyed Benchmark’s free, award-winning financial literacy curriculum in 2020-2021 than in the past five years combined. The virtual learning platform proved to be a valuable resource during the pandemic in more than 60 public, private, and parochial schools, as well as for stay-at-home students across Chester County.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent shutdowns, Benchmark Federal Credit Union has launched several programs to support small businesses and nonprofits, including up to $1 million in interest-free loans for Chester County businesses through the Benchmark Cares Loan Program.

Learn more about Benchmark Federal Credit Union.