Volunteering Pays Off: Dupaco Credit Union Employees Reap the Benefits of Giving Back

April 19, 2024

Waukee, IA – Next week, April 21-27, is National Volunteer Week and Dupaco Credit Union is celebrating the impact the financial cooperative has had on the communities they serve. Logging over 7,200 volunteer hours in 2023, Dupaco employees are choosing to make life better for others, by helping build homes, teach in classrooms, plant trees, clean up parks, prepare healthy meals, shovel snow and much more.  

 

“It feels good to get out in our community and use my skills to help other people who may not have the resources.  In my own small way, I’m serving a need for our community, it’s fun, it’s rewarding and I’m happy I get the opportunity to provide the help I can for them,” says Chris Gierut, Branch Manager for Dupaco’s Waukee branch. Gierut chooses to lend a helping hand with the Department of Corrections in Des Moines teaching a Finance 101 course. 

 

Dupaco employees don’t just walk the walk when it comes to volunteering. Their culture embodies it. Their policies promote it. And their actions add up to some impressive numbers.  

 

In 2023 alone: 

• Nearly 700 Dupaco employees volunteered 7,260 hours (that’s 10.4 hours per team member!) 
• Dupaco employees served on 175 nonprofit boards and committees 
• 294 Dupaco employees used a new paid benefit in 2023 called Volunteer Time Off, allowing them to take time off during the workday to lend a helping hand and volunteer in their community at an organization of their choice. 

 

That ‘feel good feeling’ mentioned by Gierut is real, according to data from Mayoclinic.com. According to their studies, people who volunteer experience these benefits: 

 

• Improved physical and mental health -- Volunteer activities keep people moving and thinking at the same time. Research also shows volunteering leads to lower rates of depression and anxiety. 
• Less stress and more positive/relaxed feelings – The release of the hormone dopamine contributes to feelings of lower stress. By spending time in service to others, volunteers report feeling a sense of meaning and appreciation, both given and received, which can have a stress-reducing effect. 
• Nurture new and existing relationships -- Volunteering increases social interaction and helps build a support system based on common interests. 

 

Michelle Becwar, Partnership Development Supervisor, has spent the last 10 years of his career at Dupaco focusing on how the financial cooperative can create and foster community partnerships that benefit people inside and outside the organization. “It's exciting to see the impact team Dupaco is having throughout all our communities. We’ve been able to focus on partnering and connecting people together to make our mission come alive: to help members live a life worth loving. And volunteering in our communities is a big part of that.” 

 

Gierut adds that being part of an organization like Dupaco cultivates a powerful sense of satisfaction for his co-workers. “When we work together, whether it’s in the office or in the community, we’re helping fulfil our mission for a brighter community for all. It benefits us too. We know it makes us feel better, more connected with our peers and communities and have a greater sense of wellbeing.”