The contentious divide in the 113th Congress caught the attention of the American public during this past election, but there is one issue that everyone can agree with the health of children. When it comes to supporting the country’s 154 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, both sides of the aisles are exceptionally aligned.
Point in fact: in 2014, a record-breaking 231 members of Congress from all 50 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, and Guam volunteered to serve as honorary race chairs of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals across the country. The supporters included 40 U.S. senators and the D.C. mayor.
In addition to being honorary race chairs, Members and their staff can participate in the Capitol Hill Competition, a time-honored tradition instituted in 2002. In 2014, a total of 900 Capitol Hill runners participated in this race within a race. The competition is sponsored by Congressional Federal Credit Union and United States Senate Federal Credit Union, with support from CUNA and NAFCU.
Out of the 64 Capitol Hill teams that competed in the 2014 race, the Minnesota Nice and Fast team from Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office produced the winning time of 3:23:46. The winning team from the House was White Cheddar Shredders from Vermont Rep. Peter Welch’s office with a time of 3:23:50.
This outstanding response from the members of Congress is very valuable to the award-winning collaborative efforts of credit unions to raise funds for millions of hospitalized children. The Credit Union SacTown Ten-Mile Run in Sacramento, CA, and a Freedom Run for our troops overseas are also a part of this effort. More than $6.5 million has been donated to hospitals since 2002 through Credit Unions for Kids. This impact gets the attention of Congress.
This year’s Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten-Mile Run will be held on Sunday, April 12, beginning at the Washington Monument.
This is a unique opportunity to showcase credit unions at a spectacular athletic event at the foot of the Capitol that helps kids. Your influence would be of great significance as we reach out to all the Hill offices in the new 114th Congress. You can amplify the existing impact by getting involved.
Credit unions in every state should stand with our nation’s legislators to strengthen our commitment to children nationwide. We hope to have at least one credit union from each U.S. congressional district as a sponsor of the race. Don’t you want your credit union to be listed alongside your senators’ and representative’s names?
In addition, every credit union leader who comes to Washington, D.C., should thank their respective representatives and senators for their past support of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, and ask new members to sign on as honorary race chairs. Credit union leaders testify that mentioning the race is an effective ice breaker when visiting Capitol Hill offices to discuss policy.
Our tagline is National Exposure (on Capitol Hill), Local Impact (support for your community hospital). A win-win for all!
The credit union fair share sponsorships are based on asset size. Every sponsorship dollar donated by a credit union goes back to the local hospital in the credit union’s community.
There’s still time to become a sponsor. Sign up today!
Charlie Mallon is president and CEO of Congressional Federal Credit Union and vice chair of Credit Union Miracle Day, the title sponsor group of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. For more information, visit www.miracleday.org. If your congressional office is interested in participating, please contact Sarah Turner at sturner@mddccua.org.
