Six credit unions across the Quad Cities came together recently to provide a needed financial boost to support NEST Café, a pay-what-you-want restaurant in downtown Rock Island.
NEST, located at 1524 4th Ave., received the $23,500 major gift thanks to what organizers described as the credit union spirit of cooperation, and people helping people.
Uniting on the combined donation were: Ascentra Credit Union, Empeople Credit Union, Gas & Electric Credit Union (GECU), IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union (IHMVCU), Moline Municipal Credit Union and RIA Federal Credit Union.
NEST, which stands for Nourish Everyone Sustainably Together, celebrated its third anniversary this spring. The cafe focuses on providing equitable access to nutrient-dense food as well as a space to build community among people from various life situations and financial abilities.
Leading the effort to make the generous gift was GECU CEO Daryl Empen, the NEST Café board’s treasurer.
In a news release last week, Mr. Empen said that knowing the cafe was facing some funding shortfalls this year, he reached out to his fellow credit unions.
“Being at the credit union for over three decades, I have gotten to know my fellow CEOs very well over the years,” Mr. Empen said in the release. “Many of us have been friends for years, if not decades. But knowing how these requests work, I thought it would take a few weeks to hear back, as they ran this request through a committee or their board of directors.”
He was shocked when he got “an immediate response from almost everyone, within a day, with full support for this great cause.”
Nourishing community
Founded by Laura Mahn, NEST Café is the Quad Cities’ first pay-what-you-can restaurant. Its mission is “to nourish bodies and community by providing delicious, sustainably sourced food to all who enter regardless of their means.”
Mr. Empen said Brian Laufenberg, CEO of Moline-based IHMVCU, was first to respond and within the hour its donation was secured.
Linda Andry, CEO of Ascentra, based in Bettendorf, applauded the effort and said in an email “Ascentra would love to join this wonderful collaboration of credit unions to help close the funding gap NEST Café is experiencing. This is a great way our local credit unions can serve a need in our community,” she wrote.
A short time later, the leadership at Empeople, RIA and Moline Municipal CEO also were on board.
“To come together this quickly with a simple email request truly shows the credit union spirit,” Mr. Empen said. “Yes, we may be competitors in the financial marketplace, but credit unions exist to improve our members’ lives and our communities.”
He added “And perhaps just as important, we are all friends. So when there’s a worthy cause, we step up in the spirit of cooperation, and we are able to do more than any of us could do alone.”
In fact, this was not the first time the Quad Cities credit unions united for a great cause. For 28 years, the Credit Unions for Kids Golf Outing has been held as a joint venture with these and even more local credit unions involved.
The event has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Children’s Miracle Network and the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. In 2024, the event raised $22,000 alone.
