2025 was a year of showing up, giving back, and making an impact together. From community events, fundraisers to team walks, bike rides, and volunteer initiatives, PenFinancial was proud to be deeply connected to our communities across Niagara and Dunnville.
Alongside inspiring non-profits and community partners, we supported more causes and people than ever before.
We also marked year three of our PenFinancial Truly Local Grant Program, awarding four grants to local organizations working hard to create meaningful, lasting change right here at home.
We’re incredibly proud of what we achieved in 2025: powered by our passionate staff, generous members like you, and the partners who make this work possible. Let’s rewind some of our Truly Local Commitment highlights.
Volunteer hours served in the Niagara & Haldimand regions. Every PenFi employee is encouraged to complete at least one volunteer activity in their community as part of their Truly Local Commitment goal.
in TLA donations made. Every year, we make a charitable donation of $200 on behalf of each of our employees to reward their volunteerism and community involvement!
our staff members have volunteered their time with over 100 non-profit and community organizations in Niagara, Haldimand and the surrounding area
in additional donations raised through Branch fundraisers. Our PenFi branches actively participate in a variety of community building events and fundraisers all year round.
in Truly Local Grant funding
in Corporate Donations and Sponsorships
in educational bursaries
We were thrilled to sponsor BBBSN’s The Big Start campaign this past summer, by providing a $5,000 donation to purchase back-to-school shopping gift cards for youth in need. Our Niagara branches also served as donation drop off sites throughout the region, and our staff volunteered to help stuff backpacks at The Pen Centre in August!
Learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Niagara →
In early 2025, we signed on as an event sponsor for Birchway’s annual Brunch, Bid & Bowl fundraiser at Club Italia in Niagara Falls. In addition to our sponsorship, our staff volunteered at the event and our PenFi team had a blast bowling at Cataract Bowl!
Learn more about Birchway Niagara →
Our Niagara Falls branch was proud to sponsor the Stamford Centre Volunteer Firemen’s Association's Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Good Friday in support of Project Share of Niagara Falls.
Learn more about the SCVFA and their community involvement →
With cancer touching the lives of so many in our community, we were honoured to join Wellspring Niagara as presenting sponsor for their Concert in the Park event this past September in Fonthill.
Learn more about Wellspring Niagara →
Our Dunnville branch ‘elves’ were hard at working shopping for fun and festive stocking gifts for the deserving residents of Grandview Lodge. We are proud to support a number of holiday giving programs and we were so excited to spread a little extra cheer this year to our beloved Dunnville seniors!
Every year, we are honoured to sponsor this very special fundraiser in memory of Julia Turner and her humanitarian spirit. Julia’s parents are valued members of PenFinancial, and our staff brave the cold each February to volunteer and play in the pond hockey tournament, raising money for The Hope Centre.
Our Garrison branch was at it again hosting another successful Shred Day, in partnership with our friends at Safe Stor Record Management. Over $1,600 was raised from staff, members and the Fort Erie community for Person Centered Care of Niagara Inc.
Christine Nadeau: Ken Janzen Truly Local Ambassador Award
For more than 13 years, Christine has been a dedicated member of the PenFinancial family, supporting members and teammates across the Welland branch and Commercial Services, while making an extraordinary impact in the community. This year’s Ken Janzen Truly Local Ambassador Award recipient, Christine, is recognized for her unwavering commitment to giving back: raising funds for cancer care, organizing PenFinancial’s annual Rankin “Walk,” and volunteering year-round with organizations like The Hope Centre, Holy Trinity Church, Open Arms Mission, and the Education Foundation of Niagara’s Prom Project. In the spirit of the award, she directed her $1,000 donation to Open Arms Mission of Welland’s Food Rescue Program, which redistributes surplus food to local families facing food insecurity and was further strengthened by a previous PenFinancial Truly Local Grant. Christine’s compassion, leadership, and dedication are a powerful example of community supporting community, and we’re incredibly proud to honour her for truly living our purpose of Improving Lives and Strengthening Communities.
PenFinancial is proud to introduce the new Truly Local Love Award 💚, a staff-driven initiative celebrating the non-profit and community organizations our employees personally support, and to announce the Dunnville Hospital & Healthcare Foundation (DHHF) as its very first recipient. Nominated by Senior Financial Reporting Analyst Tetje Allan, DHHF received a $1,000 donation in recognition of Tetje’s deep commitment, including 28 volunteer hours with the Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign (which helped raise over $60,000 and ranked #2 in Canada), as well as her long-standing involvement in the Hearts and Soles Walk, raising approximately $21,000 this year alone. Tetje shared that the donation will support critical medical equipment for the Dunnville Hospital, helping ensure essential emergency and diagnostic services remain accessible close to home, and we’re honoured to celebrate her dedication while supporting a hospital that means so much to the community.
We’re proud to recognize Stacey Barrett (Broker Mortgage Solutions Specialist) as PenFinancial’s 2025 Truly Local Hero Award winner for logging the most volunteer hours among staff, with more than 230 hours dedicated to strengthening our communities this year. From supporting local fundraisers and events with our Welland branch to her extraordinary commitment to Niagara Dog Rescue, Stacey’s impact is truly remarkable: since July 2023, she has helped process 1,258 dog adoptions, including an incredible 634 adoptions in 2025 alone, directly connecting hundreds of dogs with loving homes. In recognition of her leadership, compassion, and tireless dedication, Stacey was awarded a $500 donation to direct to Niagara Dog Rescue. We celebrate people like Stacey because her commitment shows how individual passion can create real, lasting change, and she embodies what it means to lead with heart while living PenFinancial’s purpose of improving lives and strengthening communities.
...is that everything we do is rooted in people and place. While we reinvest a portion of our profits back into the communities we serve, we also choose to do business responsibly: powering all of our locations with 100% renewable energy through Bullfrog Power and proudly standing as Niagara’s first financial institution recognized as a Living Wage Employer. But being Truly Local goes beyond programs and partnerships: it means showing up, listening, and putting people before profits in a world that often feels fast, disconnected, and impersonal. It’s our people supporting people, our communities lifting each other up, and a commitment to doing what’s right, not what’s easy. That’s the credit union difference; and it’s why being Truly Local matters now more than ever.
