First Community CU Supports Project Ignite Light

​This credit union raised $4,500 and collected more than 600 comfort items for abused and foster children in the region. 

Employees of First Community Credit Union (FCCU) have raised $4,500 for Project Ignite Light, an organization supporting abused and foster children throughout the region.  In addition to the funds, FCCU donated 382 pairs of pajamas and a new record of 222 fleece blankets to their ‘Bags of Hope’.  This is the sixth consecutive year that FCCU employees have chosen to support this cause and in the last six years, they have donated 945 blankets, more than 2,200 pairs of pajamas, and raised an impressive $31,500!
 
Each quarter FCCU’s 250 employees choose an organization to support by raising money and awareness.  Abused and foster children were the focus of the first quarter charity and Project Ignite Light was the organization chosen to support.
 
“Through this fundraiser, together we helped nearly 400 kids begin a new start,” says Susan Long Swen, Event & Community Engagement Specialist with FCCU.  She continues, “It was amazing to present all these blankets and pajamas to Vice President of Growth and Development, Amanda Geisler.  It’s sad to know organizations like this have to exist, but wonderful to know through our help, we can bring hope to so many kids.”           

First Community Credit Union would like to thank their members and people throughout the community for their support to Project Ignite Light.  FCCU recently sat down with Pebbles Thompson, Founder and Creator of Project Ignite Light, to hear more about the work she does with her charity in episode three of their podcast, Let’s CU Succeed.  Listen to First Community Credit Union’s podcast on myfccu.com/podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.

Project Ignite Light is a faith-based organization that provides children with important items needed when examined at local Children's Advocacy Centers around the United States for sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neglect.  They provide nearly 400 "Bags of Hope" each month to reported abused children in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.  Each bag is customized for the child's age and gender and includes a blanket, pajamas, undergarments, personal hygiene items, flashlight, book and a water bottle.  The organization was founded in 2008 by Jamestown native, Pebbles Thompson.  They function out of the old Barnes County North School in Rogers, ND.  More information can be found at www.ignitelight.org.