Last month at the Montana Credit Union Annual Convention in Missoula, MCUCD announced the winner of its 2011 Philosophy in Action award - McCone County Federal Credit Union in Circle.This credit union is involved in every program we administer - free tax services, matched savings accounts, and consumer education through an ongoing consumer resource center - all to improve the lives of their members.They also are a strong financial contributor to MCUCD. 

McCone County FCU's Gina Hove (far left), CEO Deanna Brost (third from right), and Board Member Jerry Meissner (center) take a moment to pose with their 2011 Philosophy in Action Award and the MCUCD team members who were actively involved in VITA this year (Aaron Hirsch, Jeanne Saarinen, Thor Kasenko, and Rachael Milne).

That's impressive, but it's their involvement in VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) that stood out to us as exemplifying the credit union Philosophy in Action. Three staff members became certified to prepare taxes for free in Circle (this is impressive given there are a total of nine employees at this credit union!) They also recruited two community members to prepare taxes as well. 

The volunteer tax team of five not only prepared taxes in Circle, but also traveled to a neighboring town to prepare taxes for members of Wolf Point Federal Credit Union. Traveling during the winter months in eastern Montana is no small feat, mind you! One of the volunteers even balanced tax season at the credit union with calving season on the family farm. 

Congratulations to McCone County Federal Credit Union - MCUCD's recipient of the 2011 Philosophy In Action award.It's well deserved! 

Mike Enterline and Lyndia Greenwalt (SEG FCU board chair!) were VITA volunteers at SEG Federal Credit Union in Laurel. 2011 was the first year of VITA at SEG FCU. Mike and Lyndia made it a huge success! They prepared 68 tax returns and returned over $83,000 to the Laurel community.

April 15 was a quiet day in the office for the MCUCD tax team. After the past two months of working with our credit union sites and VITA volunteers, we apprehensively welcomed the quiet. While we looked forward to hearing from and talking to our volunteers and site coordinators when they called us with questions or quality reviews, we were excited to have some free time to relish in the accomplishment of the season. So, on that Friday, when the MCUCD office was as quiet as can be, we knew we had survived our busiest and tightest tax year to date.

This year MCUCD supported twenty-four credit union sites all over Montana. Fifty-four volunteers at MCUCD-sponsored VITA sites completed 2,046 tax returns! Volunteers helped bring back $1.9 million dollars in federal refunds to Montanans. And, $510,000 of those refunds were from the Earned Income Credit. Amazing!

Thank you to everyone who supported a VITA site this year. No matter what role you took at a VITA site, your presence was vital in making this year's program a huge success. We're already looking forward to working with you all next year. Have a great summer!