Tonita Wynne, 40, is a 1A Senior Financial Representative in our Kiln Creek Branch, a wife, a mother of two girls, a band parent, and a cancer survivor. Every year, she participates in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. One day, she was working with another 1A Colleague, raising money with a gift basket raffle in the branch. Tonita recalls, "We had a member come in and ask about the basket. I told her and then she told me about her experience with cancer and how she had to go through her chemo treatments alone." Tonita pauses. "I felt bad that she had to go through that by herself, so I volunteered to go to her treatments with her so she wouldn't be sitting there alone, so she would have somebody there to talk with. The last treatment, I drove her home. She was so very thankful. She offered me money, but I told her to donate it to the American Cancer Society."

Missy, 33, and her husband Will Jordan came to 1st Advantage for a car loan. It was then that they met Rochelle Goins, a 1A Member Services Representative in the Denbigh Branch. "I could say 10 million good things about her," says Missy. Rochelle took a look at their financial picture, considered that the Jordans had no established credit because they had saved and paid for things as they needed them. She also learned that what they really wanted was to buy their own home.

When Richard Shephard, 48, moved to the area in 2006, his sister, a member of 1st Advantage, encouraged him to join the credit union. He's been a member ever since. "I needed a car and they gave me a chance to get the loan for my car and went all out for me," says Richard. "It was a fresh beginning, another stepping stone to getting my life back on track."