Going back about 20 years, it has been a tradition for the Collins employees who interact with members at the 42nd Street location to dress up in costumes and hand out candy on Halloween. After seeing how successful this was and how engaged members became, soon the entire Collins staff was allowed to wear costumes. Members were also encouraged to dress up and could walk through the building at the 42nd Street branch. Soon, this branch became a popular spot for “safe” and fun trick-or-treating for kids and their families. Many staff members even take the day off to bring their own children to the branch to join the Halloween fun.
Additionally, each department at Collins works together to decorate or carve a pumpkin for the annual pumpkin contest. According to Marion Branch Manager Marla Malone, her team likes to coordinate their pumpkin decorations with their costume theme.
“One year, we all dressed as different emojis and we made our pumpkins into emojis to match,” explained Marla. “I have a lot of talented employees at this office. We have some that come up with the great ideas while others are great at drawing or painting.”
It’s not just Halloween that we celebrate here at Collins. Celebrating the holidays is just another way for us to join in on community festivities and allows the staff to express themselves to members. Marla also mentioned that dressing up or decorating for the holidays is another way to strike up conversation and form relationships with members.
Christmas is another holiday celebrated by Collins, where the staff joins in on an Ugly Sweater contest and participates in a Secret Santa gift exchange. The Annual Easter Egg Hunt is another big hit near the Marion branch, where staff fills over 3,000 plastic eggs with candy and toys and hides them around the field at the Peg Piece ball diamond. There’s even a prize for the child who finds the “golden egg”!
“Celebrating holidays at the credit union has always been a fun way to get the staff more involved in something other than their work duties,” Marla added. “It allows us to come together and have fun with ideas and showcase the talent of our employees.”
It doesn’t matter what holiday it is, Collins Community Credit Union celebrates and has fun!
