Michigan State University Federal Credit Union Supports Local Restaurants

Local businesses and restaurants have been drastically affected since the novel Coronavirus transpired throughout Michigan. In 2019, small business contributed to 1,868,885 jobs across Michigan, 243,661 in accommodation and food services alone. Local businesses have had to change everything about the way they operate under Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.

As a unique way to support local businesses and encourage people to pay kindness forward, Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) launched the #MSUFCUEatsLocal Giveaway social media promotion.

“This initiative provided another way for MSUFCU to support small businesses and bring the community together during this challenging time,” said Deidre Davis, MSUFCU chief marketing officer. “It was wonderful to see our members in communities across the state participate in this promotion, and it was also fun to see that many local restaurants shared, liked, and commented on the posts.”

Each participant captured a photo of takeout or delivery from a local restaurant and shared the photo in the comments on #MSUFCUEatsLocal posts using Facebook or Twitter.

Once a photo was shared, participants were automatically entered to win a $25 gift card. Each winner also received a $25 gift card to pay it forward to someone else. One randomly selected winner was chosen daily between April 22nd and May 13th. During the promotion, MSUFCU had more than 50 entries.

“MSUFCU is hosted a similar contest for its employees, but they posted their takeout or delivery photos to the Credit Union’s intranet site or on their personal social media accounts using #MSUFCUEatsLocal,” said Davis. “Fifty-two entries were submitted by employees. Employees shared they planned to use the gift cards to order more from area restaurants and share the cards with their children’s teachers.”

Giving back to the community is one of MSUFCU's core values and part of the "people helping people" philosophy on which credit unions were founded. The support, membership, and participation of MSUFCU members contributes to the ability to provide community philanthropy. MSUFCU provided a total of $2,100 in gift cards to the community during the #MSUFCUEatsLocal Giveaway.

For more information about Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, visit

https://www.msufcu.org or contact Deidre Davis at [email protected].