For Immediate Release:
December 30, 2011

For more information, contact:
Francine Patella Ryan
ESL Public Affairs Manager
fpatella@esl.org
585.336.1089 or 585.261.6220 (cell)

ESL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ANNOUNCES
"SHARE THE LOVE" MEMBER VIDEO CONTEST WINNERS

First Place Winner Receives $2,500 Grand Prize

Rochester, New York - Three ESL Federal Credit Union Members received an extra holiday gift when they were notified that they were the recipients of the local credit union's "Share the Love Member Video Contest".

Grand prize winner, Allison MacDonald, Rochester, received a $2,500 ESL Visa^® Gift Card. The second place winner, Joshua Payette, Greece, and third place winner, Rory Doolan, Conesus, received a $1,000 and $500 ESL Visa^® Gift Card respectively. Winners were announced on December 21.

Each year, ESL receives hundreds of letters, calls and emails from members sharing their experiences when it comes to banking with the Rochester-based credit union. To thank members for their loyalty, ESL decided to give back this holiday season through its "Share the Love Member Video Contest".

ESL members were encouraged to enter the contest by submitting their personal ESL video "love story" to esllove.org. Members' video submissions covered a variety of topics including: how the convenience of ESL makes life easier for them, how the things ESL employees do, big and small, make a difference in their lives, or even how ESL's community commitment positively impacts their world.

Videos, which were no more than one minute in length, were submitted from November 5 - 30. Videos were posted at esllove.org for the public to view throughout the campaign. From December 5-16, anyone was able to visit and vote for his/her favorite video. Each day during the voting period, a randomly selected voter was drawn and awarded a $50 ESL Visa^® Gift Card.

Once the public voting period ended, the top five community-rated videos were reviewed by a panel of judges, which then selected the top three winners.

"We are grateful to our members for their loyalty to and support of ESL," said Celeste Kier, ESL's vice president/marketing director. "We want to acknowledge and celebrate their commitment to ESL. The video was an ideal way for ESL to publicly recognize and thank them for banking with us."

Founded by George Eastman in 1920, ESL Federal Credit Union is a full-service financial institution with $4.0 billion in assets. ESL employs more than 600 people locally and has about 300,000 members world-wide. The company was recently ranked 16th as one of 2011 Best Small and Medium Workplaces in America by the Great Place to Work^® Institute and presented by Entrepreneur^® - the second consecutive year the company was named to the list. Access to the credit union includes 19 branch locations and more than 40 ATM locations, a Contact Center, and Internet, online and mobile banking channels. The company is headquartered at 225 Chestnut Street, in Rochester, and can be found on the Internet at esl.org.

 

"Share the Love" video contest first place winner and city resident, Allison MacDonald; her fiancé, Jesse Pryor, (left) and; Dante DiLella, ESL assistant branch manager, Merchants Office

 

"Share the Love" video contest second place winner and Greece resident, Joshua Payette; his wife, Kristin (center); and Sherry Ettaro, ESL senior branch manager, Greece Long Pond Office

 

"Share the Love" video contest third place winner and Conesus resident, Rory Doolan; his wife, Nicky, (left); their children and; Daniel McHugh, ESL branch manager, Geneseo Office