LONG BEACH, Calif. – LBS Financial Credit Union celebrated its 85th year of providing financial services to members in the greater Long Beach area on Sept. 13th.
Created by Long Beach Unified School District and Long Beach City College employees in 1935, the credit union said it has grown over the years to not only include local school employees from several districts and colleges but also employees of select local businesses and many local cities and counties where members live or work. The credit union started with 28 members in 1935 and has grown to more 130,000 members in the local area today.
LBS Financial celebrated this year’s milestone with community outreach efforts and support during the COVID-19 crisis, such as providing lunches to healthcare professionals, featuring local restaurants on social media, hosting a dry food & personal item drive for Long Beach Rescue Mission, and donating funds to six educational foundations.
“LBS Financial is proud to have been serving the local area and surrounding communities for the last 85 years,” said LBS Financial President and CEO Jeffrey Napper. “This pandemic has been difficult for everyone. It’s more important than ever that we step up and take care of our community and make a difference. We are thankful for the continued support from our members over the years, and look forward to serving their needs and the needs of their families and future generations for another 85 years and beyond.”
Between May and July 2020, LBS Financial provided lunches for 728 individuals at nursing facilities and one mental health facility to say “thank you” for supporting its most vulnerable. Lunches were served by local family-owned restaurants in the community to Bellflower Acute Nursing Facility, Broadway by the Sea, Regency Palms, Artesia Christian Home, Bay Vista, The Grove at Cerritos, Bixby Towers, and College Hospital in Cerritos.
Since May, the credit union has featured a local restaurant weekly from Long Beach, Lakewood, and Cerritos on Facebook along with a trivia question about the community’s history. LBS Financial provided a $50 gift card from that restaurant to a random follower on Facebook who provided the correct answer to the trivia question. The campaign has helped gain more awareness and business for the restaurant, and helped give back to the credit union’s followers on social media, the credit union said.
This summer, LBS Financial hosted an internal employee dry food & personable item drive to support the Long Beach Rescue Mission. A donation bin was provided to each of their seven branches and corporate office for employees to donate. The Long Beach Rescue Mission will be able to use the donations to support low income and homeless community members.
To kick-off the school year, the credit union donated $8,500 between six educational groups: Long Beach City College Foundation, the ABC Education Foundation, the Long Beach Education Foundation, the Cerritos College Foundation, the One Beach Scholarship Fund at California State University, Long Beach, and Bellflower Unified School District.