LOWELL – The teens of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell will begin the new school year with fully stocked backpacks thanks to hundreds of generous donations from Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union’s members and employees.

The Credit Union recently held a company-wide school supply drive to help provide the 65 teens at the Boys & Girls Club with their new school year necessities. Boxes were made available at each of the eight branch locations for members and employees to make donations. Backpacks, notebooks, binders, pencils, pens, highlighters, water bottles and more filled each of the boxes. The Credit Union also donated backpacks to ensure each teen would have one to start the year off right.

“Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union is always great with community support,” said Joe Hungler, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell. “This is tangible evidence from the kids’ perspective that the community cares about them,” he added.

Each backpack and all of the school supplies will go directly to the teens. The teens, who range in age from 13 to 18, will join the Boys & Girls Club’s Director of Operations, JuanCarlos Rivera, to fill each of the backpacks with supplies and help disburse them to their peers.

“We include all the kids in the entire process,” said JuanCarlos. “They see all the donations and they want to know what they can do to help out,” he added.

“Our Jeanne D’Arc employees are consistently dedicated to supporting the non-profit organizations that help the people of our community,” said Mark S. Cochran, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union. “The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell does an amazing job with local youth, and we are thrilled to help provide the students with the necessary supplies they need for a successful start to school,” he added.

Both Hungler and Rivera say donations such as these help the students successfully transition into the new school year. For teens, it’s especially important. While they seem self-sufficient, this is a crucial period in their lives where they begin making their own decisions. Having the appropriate supplies to go to school with gives them the confidence and motivation they need to do well.

Photo cutline: Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union recently donated hundreds of school supplies to the teens of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell through a company-wide drive for employees and members to participate in. (Back row, from left) Ricky Hai, Boys & Girls Club staff member, Jazmin Pires, Joe Hungler, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell, Ariana Malick, Lexie Thibodeau, Linda Onyenwe, Omar Diallo, Ian Muiruri, Wellington Lantigua, Brian Sousa, Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, Sam Saltani, (front row, from left) Monique Githinji, Portia Yeboah, Jessica Arhuidese, Joshua Araujo and Kiza Msafiri.

About Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union:

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union was established in 1912 and is a full-service, member-owned community-based financial cooperative with more than 80,000 members and $1.2 billion in assets. It operates eight full-service branches in Lowell, Dracut (2), Tyngsboro, Chelmsford, Methuen and Westford, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire; high-school branches at Lowell High and Dracut High schools; a loan center in Lowell and mortgage centers in Chelmsford and North Reading.