Flags ready for retirement can be brought to any of SAFE's 17 branches in the Greater Sacramento area. Courtesy photo of SAFE Credit Union

SACRAMENTO REFGION, CA (MPG) – To honor this summer’s patriotic holidays, SAFE Credit Union is holding its second annual American flag collection drive from Friday, May 23 through Wednesday, July 30. The drive invites the public to bring in old and damaged flags for proper retirement.

Flags ready for retirement can be brought to any of SAFE's 17 branches in the Greater Sacramento area (see list of branches below) and at its Folsom headquarters. This year, SAFE is partnering with the Aerospace Museum of California to host a collection box as well.

“SAFE is honored to provide the service to our members and the public,” says SAFE Credit Union Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Mike McCarthy, who is a veteran and founder of a SAFE employee group called VALOR (Veterans and Loved Ones Resource). VALOR members are dedicated to supporting active military personnel, veterans, and their families.

SAFE will forward the collected flags to Folsom’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 6604 who will fold and ready the flags to be then given to Folsom’s American Legion Post 362. The legion will then conduct and arrange retirement ceremonies under the U.S. Flag Code.

This year, SAFE is extending the collection period from Memorial Day weekend to the end of July, a time that includes Memorial Day, Flag Day, and the Fourth of July. 

“Last year, we conducted this for a few weeks around Flag Day and the Fourth of July and gathered more than 300 flags,” McCarthy says. “People told us that they appreciated us providing this service. We’re excited that this year we are expanding the collection time and adding the Aerospace Museum as a place to drop off flags.”

SAFE Credit Union Senior Front End Web Developer Christopher Rhodes connected with VFW 6604 to arrange for the post to provide the proper retirement ceremonies. The American Legion works with Golden Empire Council Scouting in the Greater Sacramento area to conduct the reverent ceremonies as part of their programs. 

“We appreciate the VFW and American Legion for helping us this year,” says Rhodes. “They do so much to support veterans and causes like this and this is one way they continue to serve the nation and uphold respect for our flag.”

SAFE Financial Services Operations Manager Amy Peeples brought in the first flag for the collection program at SAFE headquarters, a flag once owned by her grandfather, a World War II veteran who died last year at age 98. 

“I found it in his garage in a property he owned in Arizona, so I don’t know the history of the flag, but I thought it was perfect to bring it in for VALOR and the flag donation to ensure it gets disposed of properly,” she says.

SAFE’s 85-year heritage stretches back to 1940, when it started as a credit union serving Army Air Corps personnel at what would later become McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, now home to McClellan Park.

While being a member of the credit union no longer requires military affiliation, today SAFE proudly continues to celebrate and support its many employees and members who are active National Guard and reservists, veterans, and families of active and retired military. The credit union has also awarded several grants and scholarships to nonprofit organizations supporting veterans and their families.

For more information about SAFE’s flag collection program or to interview Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer Mike McCarthy, SAFE Financial Services Operations Manager Amy Peeples, or Web Developer Christopher Rhodes, contact SAFE Credit Union Senior Communications Specialist Robyn Eifertsen at [email protected] or 916-809-7002.

SAFE Credit Union branches:

Antelope Branch, 7887 Walerga Road

Citrus Heights Branch, 7475 Madison Ave.

East Elk Grove Branch, 9312 Elk Grove Blvd.

East Sacramento Branch, 6341 Folsom Blvd.

El Camino Branch, 3560 El Camino Ave.

Folsom Branch, 2740 Bidwell St.

Hazel Branch, 5261 Hazel Ave.

Laguna Branch, 9162 Bruceville Road in Elk Grove.

Land Park Branch, 4700 Freeport Blvd.

Lincoln Branch, 111 Ferrari Ranch Road.

North Natomas Branch, 2761 Del Paso Road.

Rocklin Branch, 6190 Stanford Ranch Road.

Roseville Branch, 121 N. Sunrise Ave.

Sunrise Branch, 7601 Sunrise Blvd.

Watt Branch, 4636 Watt Ave. in North Highlands.

West Roseville Branch, 1541 Blue Oaks Blvd.  

West Sacramento Branch, 2105 Town Center Plaza.

SAFE Credit Union has made members an integral part of its vision since 1940. Over the years the credit union has kept the focus on what really matters, putting members first, a formula that has seen SAFE grow into a leading financial institution in Northern California with $4.3 billion in assets and about 244,000 members. SAFE crafts every cutting-edge product and sterling service with members’ needs foremost in mind. In addition to banking services conveniently available through online, chat, mobile, or phone options, SAFE offers in-person services for members and small businesses at service centers across the Greater Sacramento region. SAFE is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Equal Housing Opportunity Lender. Insured by NCUA. www.safecu.org