SAFE Receives Corporate Citizenship Honor for Directly Assisting Nonprofits

Folsom, Calif. – (Aug. 11, 2026) – As a testament to its commitment to the Greater Sacramento community, SAFE Credit Union received a Corporate Citizenship Award from the Sacramento Business Journal for the credit union’s support of regional nonprofits in the face of government budget cuts and other economic challenges.

The credit union was among about two dozen corporations, organizations, and co-operatives to receive the honor.

“At SAFE, we are always eager to support our community partners in the very meaningful and impactful work they do on behalf of people in our region who need a little extra help,” says SAFE Credit Union Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer Tiffani Vargas. “Being recognized among some of our business peers for stepping up when nonprofits needed us is a true honor for us.”

SAFE provides around $450,000 a year in philanthropic giving, scholarships, direct giving, and communit partnerships. It also encourages its employees to volunteer to provide hands-on support to nonprofits as well as lend their leadership and expertise by serving on nonprofit and community organization boards.

In late 2025, SAFE brought new vision and direction to its philanthropic efforts and branded it: “For What’s Good” – encapsulating SAFE’s ongoing commitment to the community. The concept is adjacent to SAFE’s current ad campaign: “SAFE. For What’s Next,” that focuses on helping members prepare for the next step in their financial journeys.

“We feel that this direction helps us really focus our time and resources on ways we can effectively meet some of the region’s most foundational needs,” says Vice President Community Relations and Financial Education Rebecca Delmundo. “When we say, ‘For What’s Good,’ we are making a strong commitment to helping make life better for all who live in the Greater Sacramento region.”

Specifically within the past year, SAFE introduced new and enhanced programs to increase its positive impact and engage its members in supporting the community.

For Big Day of Giving, SAFE began a new initiative matching its members’ donations up to $50,000 that culminated into a combined $125,000 donation to many Sacramento-area causes, including foster youth services, environmental programs, educational and sports organizations, animal welfare services, and workforce development programs.

The Sacramento County Region Community Foundation holds the annual online nonprofit fundraising event each May in which people can donate to hundreds of local organizations.

Also throughout May, SAFE enhanced its monthlong volunteer initiative “For What’s Good: Spring Into Volunteering” event by adding a monetary match of $10 for every hour employees spent volunteering, up to $5,000. SAFE employees collectively volunteered 693 hours during the month, far surpassing the total allocated for the match. The initiative encouraged teams and individual employees to volunteer for a range of nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento, Saint John’s Program for Real Change, and Juma Ventures.

“It was SAFE’s most engaging employee volunteer month ever,” says SAFE Community Impact Manager Lauren LeBov. “We more than doubled the number of volunteer hours over the previous year’s volunteer month, and we had everyone from SAFE’s top leaders to branch teams out in the community helping make a positive difference.”

SAFE also supports the community through donation drives, including a food drive late last year benefiting the Community Food Hub and River City Food Bank, a personal care items drive for homeless people served by The Gathering Inn, and a schools supply drive for kids helped by the Sacramento Children’s Home.

Other ways SAFE directly supports individuals and the community include:

• Scholarships for graduating high school seniors and community college students to help with higher education expenses
• Financial education programs for children, high school students, young adults, people served by community organizations, and SAFE members.
• Grants to nonprofits with programs that align with SAFE’s philanthropic pillars of financial education, workforce development, youth/young adult education, and affordable housing.