Valley in the Community

Wise Wonders Donations

Valley Credit Union recently donated $25,000 to Wise Wonders Science and Discovery Museum to assist with the museum’s latest expansion. These funds will be used to support the local organization in its efforts to build an updated grocery store exhibit for young learners.

“We are proud to sponsor this community-centered organization in its pursuit to foster creativity and engage curious minds through hands-on learning,” said Casey Klein, CEO of Valley Credit Union and Wise Wonders board member. “The value that this environment brings our youth is unmatched. We are eager to see the new attractions come to fruition in this renovated space and know that the museum will continue to be a staple for young minds for many years to come.”

In 2019, Wise Wonders moved to a new location that offered more room for playful learning and continued growth. However, shortly after their reopening, COVID-19 hit, and the museum was forced to close for over a year. It wasn’t until earlier this year, on April 28, 2021, that the museum was able to officially reopen and welcome families back into their facility. Since then, Wise Wonders has worked diligently to get operations back to where they were and proceed with their plans for new attractions and enhanced programming.

One of Wise Wonders' main goals for the new space was to provide a larger-scale grocery store exhibit for children. At the museum’s previous location, they had a smaller grocery store set-up that was the most trafficked exhibit and supplied high interaction from children. The funds from Valley will make this vision a reality.

“Wise Wonders is incredibly thankful for the generous support of Valley Credit Union,” said Dr. Laura Stockdale, Executive Director of Wise Wonders Children’s Museum. “Through their contribution, we will be able to make a fantastic grocery store. This space will be a place for kids to role-play, use their imaginations, work together with other kids, and learn and grow. This exhibit would not be possible without the support from Valley.”

Use strong privacy settings on social media applications you use

Social media accounts can give any individual enough information to be dangerous. You can use privacy settings to ensure that only those you know can see your posts, and this can greatly reduce the amount of information a stranger can gather from you. When in doubt, refrain from sharing too much personal information online.

Do not fall for scams where criminals impersonate people you know via social media

Cyber thieves will try to make you think they are a known friend via social networks. If you receive a suspicious email or post via sites such as Facebook or Twitter, be on guard. A hacker may have taken over your friend’s account and be using it to send out messages to every contact to scam them out of money. For example, you may get a message that a friend is traveling abroad, has lost his luggage and wallet, and needs you to transfer funds immediately to help him get home. Call your friend to verify that the message is real or contact them using a known legitimate email account. Always verify the identity of the sender before you take any action such as transferring funds or giving PII to the social media person.

Turn off facial recognition and tagging on social media platforms

On social media accounts, facial recognition and tagging may be used to automatically identify you in photographs. This is not always desirable, especially if you like to separate your work life from your personal life. You should consider turning off facial recognition in your social media account settings. You may also alter your settings so that others can’t manually tag you in photographs without your consent.

Only allow friends and family members to view social media posts

Social media accounts can reveal quite a lot about you, and this information could potentially be used by identity thieves and others with malicious intent. You should only add people you know to your friends list. Set your account profile and posts to only be visible to your friends.

Never post confidential, sensitive, or trade secret information to social media

Information on your social media accounts can be released to the public even if you have a private account. They can also be hacked. Never post or share confidential, sensitive, or trade secret information on your social media accounts or anywhere else on the web.

Con artists may construct fake social media accounts

There are many con artists who create social media accounts to get close to others and get information from them. They may even claim to have gone to the same school you did or know other people that you know. If you feel suspicious at all about a person online, you should trust your instincts and block them. Do not add anyone to your social media accounts that you don’t think you know.

Watch out for “social media deals” or promotions that include links and look too good to be true

Social platforms can be an easy way for cyber-criminals to share phishing links with unsuspecting users. In addition to infected links, scammers will try to acquire your credit card information through fake websites.

“Trolls” intentionally attempt to disrupt forums and blogs

Internet “trolls” are mean-spirited individuals who attempt to disrupt forums, blogs and social media accounts. They will often lash out to try to provoke an emotional response and they may come in groups. You should never try to argue with a troll; they already know they are wrong and are simply trying to irritate you.

Social networks can be used to spread malware

Links and files on social networks can include viruses and malware. Never click on links from people that you don’t know and don’t download files that are sent to you through a social media platform. Be skeptical of any links that look unusual, such as a link that comes from someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. Even someone you know could have their account hacked and used to send out malware.