Champion Spotlight: Brad Miller, AACUL

There is a direct correlation between Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals) and credit unions across the United States. CMN Hospitals provide care for over 12 million children nationwide, every year. With patients mental, physical, emotional and financial well-being at heart, CMN Hospitals rely on various fundraising partners and programs to support the nonprofit’s mission – credit unions are proud to be one of those supporting partners through Credit Unions for Kids (CU4Kids). With people helping people at their heart of a credit union, over 130 million Americans now bank with a credit union.

Brad Miller, President of the American Association of Credit Union Leagues, serves on the CU4Kids National Advisory Board and has a unique perspective on the successful relationship between CMN Hospitals and the credit union industry.

The American Association of Credit Union Leagues (AACUL) is the national association for the state and regional credit union leagues/associations throughout the United States. AACUL’s mission is to cultivate the success of individual leagues as well as the collective League System by supporting league efforts to advocate, communicate, collaborate and influence policy on behalf of credit unions nationwide. For the past seven years, Miller has enjoyed lending his voice to the CU4Kids Advisory Board as a liaison to the credit union network throughout the U.S. Getting credit unions involved by amplifying what leagues and credit unions are doing to support CU4Kids is a focus of the Advisory Board. Through sharing best practices and knowledge of successful fundraising to credit unions is a key success factor of the Advisory Board as they look to grow partnership efforts with CU4Kids and CMN Hospitals. When asked about the driving passion behind his work with CU4Kids, Miller stated “I know a lot of people that have had experiences with CMN Hospitals. CMN touches so many lives – it’s incredible how many people they have helped and the funds that have been raised to help in those efforts.”

The most rewarding part of participating on the Advisory Board is getting to hear the miracle stories curated by CMN Hospitals. Although not everyone has personal experience with a CMN Hospital, everyone can hear and see how these patients are affected. Being on the Advisory Board allows for insight into all of the unique and exciting fundraising activities leagues and credit unions are able to come up with. From the D.C. Cherry Blossom Run, to formal galas, to golf outings, the events seem to get bigger and broader every year, and “it’s been great to see that support, collaboration, and impact,” stated Miller. “By partnering on a national level, state credit unions leagues are able to better serve their local communities. Credit Unions for Kids is a great example of this! Leagues and credit unions provide a tremendous amount of support to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals – for good reason. This support improves the financial wellbeing of the families in their communities, as every dollar raised stays local. These donations enable parents to focus on getting kids the care they need – and not the cost of care – which improves the health and wellbeing of the entire family,” stated Miller.

To learn more about CU4Kids and how your credit union can participate, visit cu4kids.org.