By: Marketing

Marketing @ 2:00 pm

Did you know that Michigan First Credit Union is helping communities, students and charitable organizations across metropolitan Detroit by providing financial contributions, free services, sponsorships and scholarships? In 2009 to date, we’ve helped 55 organizations and provided more than $64,000 in financial contributions, and each year, we donate more than $80,000 to charitable and community resources.

We also make our community room available for community groups, school districts and professional organizations to use free of charge.  Annually, more than 7,000 community members using this free meeting space.  Not only do we sponsor a number of community events, but we’ve given hundreds of thousands of dollars to local students to help them get to college. For more information and to stay updated on our community activities, follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.  For more specific information on our youth programs, check out www.MichiganFirstKids.com.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 12:06 pm

Celebrate the Season and Help Make the Holidays Happier with Michigan First!

2008 Holiday Brights Schedule

“Blanket Days” – Help Keep Someone Warm
November 10 – December 31
Evergreen, Gratiot, New Center, Wayne & Wyoming Branches

Bring a new twin-size blanket to any of the branches listed above for the American Red Cross “Blanket Days for the Homeless” Campaign.

Our Spectacular Holiday Lights Turn On For the Season!
Monday, November 24
Evergreen Branch, 27000 Evergreen Road

Arts & Crafts Holiday Bazaar
Thursday, December 4, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Friday, December 5, from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Evergreen Branch, 27000 Evergreen Road
Purchase gifts from a variety of specialty vendors and take home holiday gifts for friends and family.

Santa Day – See Santa & His Live Reindeer!
Saturday, December 13, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Evergreen Branch, 27000 Evergreen Road

• Picture with Santa*
• Clowns
• Face Painters
• Magician
• Bring in a new twin size blanket for “Blanket Days” on Santa Day
• and be entered into a drawing to win a $100 gift card
• (one entry per person).**

Holiday Blood Drive
Wednesday, December 17, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Evergreen Branch, 27000 Evergreen Road
There will be a Holiday Blood Drive, hosted by The American Red Cross and Michigan First Credit Union. Register at www.givelife.org with sponsor code “mifirst.”

*$3 each or 2 for $5 with $1 donated to the “Blanket Days” Campaign.
**Michigan First employees, volunteers, and their immediate family are not eligible. Must bring in a new twin-size blanket on 12/13/08 to be entered into the drawing. One entry per person. Subject to change. Must be at least 18 years of age to participate. See Credit Union for details.

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By: Lauren

Lauren @ 3:17 pm

Michigan First Credit Union was recently featured in an article in the Detroit Free Press. Michigan First member, Isabelle Lewis, used her stimulus check to contribute to the savings of her grandchildren. Please find the complete article with pictures below.

Where did stimulus funds go?
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080629/COL07/806290600
Detroit Free Press, SUSAN TOMPOR
June 29, 2008

Whenever she has extra cash, Isabelle Lewis deposits $20 or so into each of the savings accounts that she opened for her three grandsons.

But after she got her economic stimulus money, Lewis of Lathrup Village had another idea. One June day, she took three crisp $100 bills to the credit union and brought along her Triple A’s — 8-year-old Alton, who likes to be called AJ, and his 5-year-old twin brothers Alexander and Alston Andrews. “It’s like free money, so I just share with my grandkids,” Lewis remarked during their trip to the Michigan First Credit Union in Lathrup Village where, truthfully, the boys focused more on the fish in the bank’s tank than their own catch of the day.

So what is everyone doing with all that money? More than 130 million Americans will get a tax stimulus rebate either by direct deposit or paper check by mid-July.

I talked to five diverse Michigan households in April about what kind of money they thought they would get — and what they thought they’d do with it.

Now, two months later, I’ll tell you how life — and tax glitches — actually tripped up many people.

Some get more than expected

Lewis — who retired from Detroit Public Schools in 1999 — saw her money on schedule via direct deposit. But she received $600 on May 6, not the $300 she first expected.

Lewis didn’t realize that some retirees would receive a bigger payout.

Lower-income seniors and disabled veterans who normally do not have to file a return are eligible this year to receive a minimum stimulus payment of $300 for singles or $600 for married couples, plus $300 for each qualifying child if they filed a 2007 return.

But if better-off retirees had 2007 net income tax liability of at least $600 for single filers or $1,200 for joint filers, they would be eligible to receive stimulus checks in those amounts rather than other $300 or $600 minimum amounts, according to Mark Luscombe, an analyst for CCH in Riverwoods, Ill.

Some wealthier individuals, including retirees, did not qualify for the stimulus checks.

Lewis planned to give half her money to her grandsons for their college savings all along. Her own mad money account is flusher, too.

“This $300 will just sit there until I need something big.”

Check is still in the mail
Janet and Fred Pattan, who live about 30 miles outside Escanaba, need $850 for firewood to heat their home in the Upper Peninsula. The wood should last three years, but they won’t take delivery until they have their $600 stimulus check.

When Janet (Maudie) Pattan, 64, saw my number on caller ID last week, she chimed: “I still don’t have any money.”

They got a letter in early June from the Internal Revenue Service. They didn’t file the correct original form; they mailed a copy of the return instead. They had to then mail the original.

Teresa and Steve Smith, both 43, had a May 9 target date for their direct deposit, based on Social Security numbers listed in the IRS table.

The Northville couple saw their $2,100 check June 14.

No one knew it in late April, but thousands of people who used TurboTax and other tax-preparation services later discovered they had to wait for a paper check because they agreed to have fees for services deducted from their refunds.

Eligible individuals are receiving up to $600 for singles — or $1,200 for married couples filing joint returns. Plus families are receiving $300 for each eligible child under age 17.

The couple already has spent $1,295 on gutters for their home. At one point, Teresa and her husband wanted to go on vacation with their children: Adam, 16; Madeleine, 13, and Jacob, 10.

“Before gas prices went crazy, we were thinking of a drive through the Upper Peninsula,” she said. But now it costs nearly $62 to fill up the family’s Pontiac Aztek. It’s more for the family’s full-size Ford van.

They’re not sure how they might spend the remaining $805.

Second thoughts on splurging
Yulette Barnes, 36, says sky-high gas prices and a sky-high jobless rate in Michigan stopped her from buying some Narciso Rodriguez perfume.

“I can’t really see myself spending $100 for perfume at this time,” Barnes said.

She definitely planned to do that, if she got the money around Mother’s Day as she thought would happen.

But Barnes had to wait for the check because of the tax software mix-up.

The check popped up in her mailbox June 24. She received $704 — $404 as head of a household and $300 for her 4-year-old daughter Kaitlyn Rose.

And six weeks after Mother’s Day, she wasn’t feeling quite as giddy.

She’s paying about $350 a month to fill up her Chrysler Sebring.

Barnes, who lives in downtown Detroit, has a job as a legal assistant for Grant, Busch & Kirschner, a Southfield law firm that specializes in workers compensation and Social Security issues.

And her friend who has three children lost her job about two months ago and is still struggling to meet her bills.

Barnes lent about $300 of the check to her friend.

Barnes did shop a little. A day after she got the check, she spent about $280 on three pairs of sandals at Macy’s and a purse. And she spent another $100 or so on shoes and earrings for Kaitlyn Rose. No money ended up in her daughter’s savings account, as planned.

A nasty surprise

Michael Lary, event coordinator for the City of Ferndale, didn’t think he’d get a check at first. Then, he went to www.irs.gov and discovered he qualified for a $300 rebate.

He planned to take a trip to Chicago if the check arrived before the Memorial Day weekend.

No check, no trip, no clue.

So, as he waited, he kept thinking of new things to buy. One week, it was a recliner. Another, a $465 Schwinn bike.

Then, a letter arrived from the IRS.

The federal government withheld his $300 stimulus payment and told him that he owed back taxes and penalties in 2006 for his casino winnings.

Lary said he won about $2,000 at a casino. Now, he’s working through this tax mess. He still could owe about $500. But he plans to see if the casinos have records for his gambling on casino player’s cards for 2006. Those records could show that he lost more money than he won that year, so he said he is hoping that he might not owe as much money.

“I forgot that I won the money at the casino — and I didn’t report it,” he admitted, noting that he did his own taxes via a Web site. “It was my own fault.”

Contact SUSAN TOMPOR at 313-222-8876 or stompor@freepress.com.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 8:12 am

Mark your calendar for the summer concert series at the Lathrup Village Municipal Park every Wednesday evening. The eight week event, made possible through the efforts of the Lathrup Village Community Foundation, features a mix of great entertainment ranging from country, jazz, folk, Americana, to blues and classical.

All concerts are scheduled for Wednesday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Below are scheduled performances for this summer’s series:

July 2 – Dr. Dixie Goodtime Band
July 9 – Après le Jour (classical0
July 16 – Paul Carey (blues and jazz)
July 23 – Jesse Palter (jazz)
July 30 – Groove Essential
August 6 – Shepard’s Folly (Celtic)
August 14 – Free family movie night

The concerts are held in the park behind City Hall, located at 27400 Southfield Road in Lathrup Village. Parking is free. For more information, call (248) 557-2600, ext. 244.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 5:43 pm

In early June, Michigan First held its annual MoneyKids Fun Day at Lathrup Village Municipal Park. Nearly 300 MoneyKids, friends and family members enjoyed a fun day that included inflatable play attractions, clowns and face painters, train rides, and food. Maxamillion the Dinosaur, the MoneyKids mascot, was also on hand to put smiles on everyone’s face. MoneyKids were eligible to enter a drawing to win one of three Toys R Us gift cards. In addition, each child received a gift.

Michigan First Credit Union MoneyKids Mascot Maxamillion the Dinosaur (Max) hangs with his new pals Kel-El and Darrion.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 1:26 pm

Come and join us during this year’s “Art in the Park”. There will be plenty of opportunities to shop as artists booths will line Southfield Road and the Municipal Park. Enjoy court open for fabulous foods or simply stop by to listen to the music in the gazebo. To relax, try one of the Michigan brews offered at the mini pub this year.

Don’t forget to look for the Michigan First Credit Union booth to enter into a special drawing!

Where: Lathrup Village Municipal Park

27400 Southfield Road (Between 11 and 12 Mile Roads)

When: Saturday, June 21

10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, June 22

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Have you been at this event before? Tell us about it by writing a comment on the blog.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 1:20 pm

Michigan First Credit Union sponsored the Scholar’s Lecture and Spelling Bee at the Ford
Freedom Awards, an annual fundraiser for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American
History. Pictured below are Michael Poulos, President/CEO of Michigan First Credit Union; Keke
Palmer, star of the film “Akeelah and the Bee”; and Rob Bettie, the Community Relations
Specialist with State Farm Insurance.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 8:37 am

Nine talented Detroit students have been selected as winners in the first Good Schools Poetry Contest presented by The Skillman Foundation and Good Schools Resource Center at Marygrove College and sponsored by Michigan First Credit Union.

The competition is part of The Skillman Foundation’s seven-year, multi-million dollar education initiative, Good Schools: Making the Grade, which identifies nine indicators of student and school success and invites all Detroit schools to apply for funding and technical assistance to maintain or attain these standards.   The poetry contest was open to K-12 students attending any of the 145 public, charter, private or parochial schools in Detroit that have been named Good Schools during the first three years of the initiative. The topic was: “Why my School is a Good School.” More than 1,000 entries were submitted. 

First, second and third place winners were chosen in each of three grade levels — elementary (K-5), middle (6-8), and high school (9-12). The winning students and their prizes are:

1)      ELEMENTARY: ·        

1st Place ($300 Gift Card) – Bryce Stallworth, 4th Grade, Bates Academy

 2nd Place($200 Gift Card) – Erica Cannon, 5th Grade, YMCA Service Learning Academy 

  3rd Place ($100 Gift Card) – Brandon Hull, 1st Grade, Charles H. Wright Academy 

2)      MIDDLE: 

1st Place ($500 Gift Card) – Najah Johnson, 7th Grade, Gesu Catholic School 

2nd Place ($300 Gift Card) – J′La Williams, 8th Grade, Golightly Educational Center 

3rd Place ($150 Gift Card) – Shabaka DaaJa-Ra, 7th Grade, Gesu Catholic School

3)      HIGH SCHOOL: 

1st Place ($750 Gift Card) – Michael Varano, 12th Grade, Renaissance High School 

2nd Place ($500 Gift Card) – Phillip Hall, 12th Grade, Communication & Media Arts 

3rd Place ($300 Gift Card) – Margaret Clements, 12th Grade, Renaissance High School

The student poetry winners received their prizes at a Good Schools Celebration of Excellence event on May 27th at Chene Park in Detroit. Marygrove College English faculty judged the students’ poems on creativity, originality, content, title appropriateness, style and mechanics, use of language, and voice authenticity. “We were extremely pleased with the response we received in the poetry contest. It demonstrates the creativity of children in Detroit schools and gives them a voice in what makes a Good School,” said Tonya Allen, vice president of program for The Skillman Foundation.  Michigan First Credit Union presented gift cards and award certificates to the poetry contest winners and plaques to the winning students’ schools. “This is our second year sponsoring a Good Schools: Making the Grade contest, and we’re very proud to be a part of this important initiative,” said Michigan First President & CEO Michael D. Poulos. “Michigan First has always been committed to the education and development of Detroit youth.”

The Skillman Foundation’s Good Schools: Making the Grade initiative identifies, recognizes and rewards Good Schools in Detroit. During the first three years of the initiative, The Skillman Foundation awarded more than $5.5 million in Good Schools grants to nearly 150 Detroit schools. The winning schools are recognized in four categories — High Performing, Improving, Emerging and Aspiring — and evaluated on nine standards: Student Academic Performance; Student Attendance; Leadership and Educational Vitality; Data-Driven Decision Making; Challenging Curriculum and Instruction; Student Focus and Support; School Culture; Professional Community; and School, Family and Community Partnerships.   

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By: Steve

Steve @ 6:08 pm

Michigan First Supports MLK High School’s Olympic Performance

On March 5, Michigan First presented a $10,000 check to the Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School Band. The Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School Band, one of only five U.S. bands invited to perform, has been selected to represent the State of Michigan during the Pre-Olympics Music Festival in China on July 1-7, 2008.

But it will cost $240,000 and they need our help.

Michigan First Credit Union is making it easy for any one to make any size donation. We have set up an account at the credit union for those wishing to donate funds.

To make any size donation, either:
(1) Visit any Michigan First Branch, or
(2) Mail your donation to:

Michigan First Credit Union
ATTN: MLK Band
27000 Evergreen Rd.
Lathrup Village, MI 48076

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By: Lena

Lena @ 4:23 pm

Looking for a gift that will dazzle this Valentine’s Day? Come and see our Valentine’s Day Dream Deals! Michigan First will be hosting Simmons and Clark special jewelry showcase at our Evergreen Branch on February 8 and February 13.

Stop by to find that special gift! Plus, spend $149 and receive FREE chocolates!

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