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SECU Members Help Bring NC's Natural Beauty to Students Across the State!

Exploring North Carolina (ENC), a five-time Emmy nominated program, first aired in 2005 and is one of the most popular, and most widely aired programs on UNC-TV. The series is also distributed nationally on the Apple Computer's "iTunes U" network. The purpose of ENC is to identify and explore North Carolina's most unique and important natural resources. Each episode in the series is a mini-adventure featuring the plants, animals, geology, and history, both natural and social, of North Carolina's greatest places. The footage is shot in high definition and is closed caption for the hearing impaired.

Tom Earnhardt, President of the Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences serves as co-producer, writer and host of Exploring North Carolina. Mr. Earnhardt states, "I can think of no organization more supportive of North Carolina's natural heritage than State Employees' Credit Union. With the help of the members of SECU, through the SECU Foundation, we will continue to produce exciting new episodes of Exploring North Carolina, while at the same time preserving a permanent digital record of our unique natural resources. We are honored by this grant and the trust it conveys to all of us who believe that quality of life in North Carolina is directly related to good stewardship of the natural world."

Dr. Betsy Bennett, Director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences comments, "The Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is greatly appreciative of the grant from the SECU Foundation. Through this grant, SECU members will not only make possible the continued production of this series, but will help preserve the archival quality, high-definition images collected by Natural World Productions, LLC. We believe this image collection of plants, animals, ecosystems, along with the numerous interviews of North Carolina scientists, educators, and naturalists is truly unique and must be preserved and utilized for years to come."

Shirley Bell, SECU Foundation Board Chair, remarks, "The SECU Foundation grant for ENC is an educational investment for the citizens of North Carolina, especially our State's students. SECU members are allowing this informative program to continue, while the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust will help it get in the hands of schools statewide. This is a wonderful partnership of many groups who see the tremendous value in archiving and preserving North Carolina history for future generations."

About SECU and the SECU Foundation

SECU is a non-profit financial cooperative owned by its members. SECU has been providing the employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for over 70 years. Currently serving over 1.5 million members, SECU provides services through 227 branch offices, over 1,000 ATMs, 24/7 call centers and a website, www.ncsecu.org. The SECU Foundation, a 501c (3) charitable organization funded solely by the contributions of SECU members, promotes local community development in North Carolina primarily through high impact projects in the areas of education, health and human services.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6214352&lang=en

SECU Foundation
G. Mark Twisdale, Executive Director
919-839-5180
secufoundation@ncsecu.org