Help Complete the Dream

Hopewell Federal is partnering with the Davis Shai House to ask for your support and vote to help complete their building construction, purchase furnishings and build their Legacy Garden.

The Davis Shai House is in the running nationally for a grant award called the PepsiRefreshEverything for $250,000. If awarded the grant money, it will be spent locally right here in Licking County.

The winner is based on votes – and that is where we need your help. Beginning on June 1 please access this link: www.refresheverything.com/davisshaihouse.com and vote every day throughout June. It only takes about two minutes of your time to complete the voting process, and together we can make a difference.

Good to Know

At Hopewell Federal we are always looking for ways to advise and support our members financially. Sometimes that means simply passing along information that comes to us through credit union channels.

Something that passed by this week called, “17 Things a Five-Year-Old Should Know About Money” reminded me of a poem, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”  Although not reproduced in their entirety, the two pieces blended together make an insightful guide for everyone, everywhere.

• Spending, saving and sharing are ways to use money.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Buying means trading money for things.
• Play fair.
• Saving allows you to buy something in the future because you don’t have enough money today.
• You can keep money safe at home and other places.
• Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
• Different things have different prices.
• Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• People have different needs and wants.
• Some things do not cost any money.
• People in a community share the cost of some work done for everyone.
• Share everything.
• Clean up your own mess.

Sources: www.creditunion.coop and www.robertfulghum.com

New Phishing Scam

Now that consumers are getting wise to phishing emails (attempts to get you to disclose your credit account numbers or other private information through email messages set up to look like they are sent from legitimate sources) the scammers have added a new twist. Instead of directing you to click on a link that takes you to a fake site where they expect you to enter your private information, they now direct you to call a special phone number. Once you call, an automated system asks you to verify your identity by punching in your credit card number. Of course, if you do that, you have just given the thieves open access to charge up your account.

Our advice remains the same. Hopewell Federal Credit Union will never contact you via e-mail or phone to ask for your account numbers. We already have your account numbers and information. If you ever have any doubts about the legitimacy of a phone call or e-mail, call our office at 740-522-8311 to double check before you give out any information.

However, if you initiate the call, we will ask for some identifying information before we disclose any information on your accounts. This also protects you from thieves who want to get easy access to your accounts.

Springtime

There used to be a saying about March that went something like, “In like a lion out like a lamb or conversely, in like a lamb out like a lion.” If March started our being pleasant – it wouldn’t end that way and vice versa. Perhaps we should extend the saying on into May, as the weather has been more like the four seasons – and I’m just talking about this week.

It may be sputtering on in, but spring has arrived. Take time to enjoy it and all it has to offer with sunshine, fresh air and birds singing. For some of us, getting out and working in the yard is a long awaited pleasure, something that we have been dreaming about all winter.

If you have a to-do list of projects you have been putting off until warmer weather, but need a little help getting started – Hopewell Federal has some loan solutions for you. Give us a call, we are here to help you at your convenience.

Be safe and don’t overdo the yard work or gardening your first day out. Pace yourself, drink plenty of fluids and don’t forget the sunscreen.