Thursday is International Credit Union Day, and credit unions across Canada are celebrating their efforts in community support that grew by 3% in 2007, according to the Credit Union Community Involvement Survey.

Credit unions in Canada contributed a record amount of more than $35.8 million to community programs last year, in support of local services, community initiatives, sports teams, affordable housing, and student assistance, the seventh annual national survey of credit union philanthropy found.

Credit unions support their local communities with a combination of money, services and time. The largest category of support was donations and sponsorships, where credit unions donated $25.3 million in 2007, up about 3% from 2006.

Credit unions also donated $3.7 million to their own charitable foundations, handed out more than $900,000 in scholarships and bursaries and provided $2.8 million in financial services to community organizations, largely by reducing or waiving service charges for such groups.

In addition, 47% of the credit unions surveyed said their employees participated in community activities as part of their paid work and 67% of employees volunteered on their own time.

A total of 299 credit unions took part in the survey.