Beyond The Transaction Member Newsletter - Winter 2026

From October 1st through December 1st, all of our Partners 1st locations collected new, unwrapped toys and donated them to local organizations in their communities. This was our first-ever toy drive, and came about due to recognizing a local need. In the Fort Wayne area, we teamed up with another credit union to bring the local Toys for Tots chapter back to life. After its absence for one year, this community felt the strain that other organizations were unable to fulfill.

We wanted to make sure that every good boy and girl didn’t go without a present this year, so we helped revive the Toys for Tots chapter in the Fort Wayne area and extended this opportunity to all our communities.

To make room for the Partners 1st Toy Drive, we reduced our collection time for the annual WE CAN Food Drive in 2025. Whereas this drive historically kicks off in November, we started it on Monday, December 1, and ran it until December 31.

So many organizations collect and donate throughout the strenuous holiday season, our goal for this drive was to provide food after the holidays. With the generosity of our members, we were able to drop off a month-full of food at our local food pantries and organizations and made sure the families in our communities have food to start the new year.

There was a period of time in November when SNAP benefits were uncertain and organizations were overrunning with need. Some of our staff recognized this need and came together to collect monetary and food donations internally over the span of a week and a half. Then, the team purchased hundreds of dollars’ worth of food and stocked six different food pantries in the area. Another staff member rallied support by creating “Meals in a Bag” for local pantries to provide all the ingredients needed for a good meal at home.

Throughout 2025, our staff donated over $10,000 to one organization. This amount came from an elective weekly $1 donation in exchange for the option to “dress down” and wear jeans on Fridays. For the second year in a row, this money was donated to Puppies Behind Bars. This nonprofit teaches incarcerated individuals to raise and train service dogs for wounded war veterans, first responders, law enforcement, and more. It’s a mutually beneficial program where their puppy-raisers learn a new way to contribute to society and the puppies mature into well-loved and behaved dogs.