The News

Dixon, Jerrell named Wichita Community Heroes

Congratulations to Rick Dixon of P.B. Hoidale and Officer Steven Jerrell of the Wichita Police Department for being recently named Wichita Community Heroes by the American Red Cross Midway-Kansas Chapter.

The two have a close connection with Mid American Credit Union. For years, Dixon has served on the credit union’s board of directors. Jerrell spearheads a community-wide effort in which Mid American partners to help give Wichita-area children a positive activity during the summer break.

Dixon is president of the fourth-generation, family-owned P.B. Hoidale, which sells, services and installed high quality petroleum, lubrication and industrial equipment. Being civic minded comes second nature to Dixon, who regularly donates money to local organizations and his time by serving on various different boards in addition to Mid American. He also is a consistent blood donor for the American Red Cross.

He cares not only about the community where he lives and works, but those outside of it. The morning after the Joplin, Mo., tornado hit, Dixon called in workers to see how they could help with relief efforts. His company provided a generator and work crews also brought in bottled water for relief workers and the community.

Officer Jerrell was recognized for his work to reduce crime rates in the city of Wichita by building partnerships in the community. Ten years ago, Officer Jerrell came up with the idea of providing a positive activity, called Summer Activity Camps, to keep kids off the street. He partnered with the Wichita Parks and Recreation Department to provide a location for the activity and then sought community partners to help sponsor various activities. The venture grew from one single camp to five being held throughout Wichita. Mid American became a sponsoring partner, offering a financial literacy component in 2012.

The activity, which has been recognized as the best financial youth literacy program among Kansas credit unions for the past two years, has resulted in a drop in crime rates for the neighborhoods surrounding where the camps are held.

Youth account gets national notice

Nerdwallet.com has ranked Mid American’s Preferred Youth Savings Account as one of the top youth and teen accounts among credit unions in the nation.

In its blog post listing the top credit union youth accounts, it noted, “Mid American Credit Union’s Preferred Youth Savings account offers your teen 0.50% APY, more than 5 times the national average APY for savings accounts.”

Mid American’s youth accounts, which earn dividends and have no fees, are available to anyone age 24 and younger.

Text Message SCAM ALERT

Members have reported receiving text messages with the following message: "THE CREDIT UNION CENTER ALERT: your card has been deactivated. PLEASE CALL (316) 765-0489." Some members have reported receiving texts with other return call numbers including (561) 232-3007. These scam text messages are an attempt to get you to reveal your account information to the sender.

Do not reply to the message or provide any information abour your account.

 

This type of scam is typically generated in a random manner. Scammers know that by sending a large volume of messages that some will be received by actual credit union members. The use of a 316 area code in the telephone reply number indicates an increased level of sophistication by the those responsible.

 

If you have any questions or are concerned that you might have revealed your account information to these scammers, please call our financial services department at 316-722-3921, ext. 202.

Mid American repeats parade award

For the second year in a row, Mid American Credit Union received first place in Arkansas City’s Arkalalah parade for best float by a business. The credit union also won the Queen’s Choice Award this year.

The theme for this year’s 81^st annual fall festival was “Team USA.” The parade took place Saturday afternoon, Oct. 27.

The Mid American float featured a huge set of Olympic rings, a real flame-throwing torch (the only one of its kind in the parade), a look-a-like gold medal, and a 3D cutout of the USA.

Mid American Credit Union’s Arkansas City branch is located at 1610 N. Summit.

 

Fall prep is in the air

 From Debbie Stang, Home Loan Officer

With fall in the air, it’s a good time to do some fall cleaning and work inside and outside your house as you prepare for the colder temperatures of winter.

Take advantage of days with warmer temps to open up the windows and give your house a good fall cleaning. You’ll be giving your home one last chance to breathe before closing up windows for the winter, plus you’ll be providing adequate ventilation for any heavy duty cleaners you may use.

Now is the time to ensure you have clean or new filters so your breathing air is suitable while you’re snugly enclosed in your home during the winter. Check your furnace, too, to help thwart a breakdown when you need it most.

Speaking of your furnace, you’ll want to make sure you don’t let any of that valuable warmth escape into the winter air so check doors and windows for leaks and make appropriate repairs.

You’ll also want to spend some time outdoors while you can, making repairs to cracked sidewalks and driveways, cleaning out gutters and checking for faulty siding and roofing. Cold weather can make any of those unchecked items worse.

If you really want to get down and dirty, fall is a great time for landscaping. Fall is ideal for such things as aerating, fertilizing and treating your lawn and planting bulbs for that welcome spring splash of color. Plant new trees and shrubs. The cooler temperatures put less strain on new plantings and allow them to establish over the winter.

If you are in need of a home mortgage, refinancing, or a home equity loan, remember you can apply online for loans with Mid American. Go to the Buying a Home link to apply for mortgages, and to the Loans section for home equity and second mortgage applications.

Honoring those who serve: Mid American to dedicate flag plaza

By Jim Holt, President/CEO　

In October, Mid American Credit Union will dedicate a new flag plaza on the east side of our main branch at 8404 W. Kellogg. While this plaza gives us a place to proudly wave the flags of our country, our state and our credit union, it also will be a public place for us to thank those members who have volunteered to serve on our board of directors and associated committees.

We will dedicate the plaza during Member Appreciation Week, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, with the unveiling of three bricks engraved with the names of three longtime chairs of past boards: Dr. J.R. Berg, Sue Ann Shelby and Kevin Polian. While all are now deceased, the leadership these three individuals provided during their years of service helped lay the groundwork for the success Mid American now enjoys. Thus we will be memorializing them as the first to be honored in our flag plaza.

It also seems appropriate we recognize them during our annual Member Appreciation Week, when we take time to re-examine the vital role that members have in our structure, leadership and ultimately the products and services we provide.

We are making available the opportunity to honor other volunteers, staff members and others who’ve been important to Mid American. A limited number of bricks, either in the standard brick size of 4x8 inches or the larger size of 8x8 inches, will be available for engraving with the name of those individuals at the cost of $25 for the smaller brick and $50 for the larger. Proceeds will benefit financial literacy efforts of Mid American Credit Union and our Consumer United Program, a nonprofit entity focused on consumer and financial literacy.

If you would like to participate in honoring someone in the flag plaza, please contact our Marketing Department, 316-722-3921, to make arrangements.

New branch managers for Ark City and Credit Union Service Center

There are new managers at the helm of Mid America’s Arkansas City branch and at the Credit Union Service Center, which Mid America administrates, but they’re no strangers.

Mary Hamilton, the former branch manager at the Arkansas City branch, has become the new manager at the Credit Union Service Center, located near the intersection of 31^st and Meridian in Wichita.

Travis Colibert, who was formerly in charge of the Coleman branch, is the new manager for the Arkansas City branch, 1610 N. Summit.

New online feature available for outside transfers

Mid American members can now transfer funds from their Mid American account to another financial institution through a new feature on Desktop Banking.

You will find this feature listed as Outside Transfers. You will need the routing or ABA number and account information at the other institution to complete the transfer. You also will be able to move money from another institution – for a loan payment, for example - to your Mid American account.

Click here for further instructions.