SAFE marks 60 years

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SAFE Federal Credit Union opened its doors with $75 in deposits at a borrowed desk in a civilian personnel office at Shaw Air Force Base. That was January 1955, and 15 civilian employees at Shaw -- SAFE stands for Shaw Air Force Employees -- began operations and soon saw their numbers swell to 500 members. Soon active duty military stationed at Shaw joined its ranks and it remained open only to Shaw employees until the mid-1970s when Sumter government and school district employees were added. Several re-locations later, a two-story structure was built in 1974, and it stands today as a testament to the popularity of SAFE. Membership has expanded over the years to include nearly 500 additional groups and eight underserved communities with a total of 17 branches: five in Sumter County, three in the Columbia area and one each in Camden, Lugoff, Bishopville, West Columbia, Lexington, Santee, Orangeburg, Florence and right here in Manning. A call center in Sumter's administration building, a branch in International Paper in Eastover and two in-school branches at Lee Central High School and Richland Northeast High School help better serve its wide-ranging membership. Branch celebrations are slated for Jan. 14 -- the date when SAFE signed its federal charter in 1955. "We're inviting members to visit their local branch January 14 and share refreshments with us, pick up a gift and register to win an iPad Air 2," said Marketing Director Lynn Blizzard in a press release. Headquartered in Sumter, SAFE is the largest credit union serving the Palmetto State's Midlands with 108,000 members and $903 million in assets.