The Blanton Family

Our relationship started back in 1980 when Barbara worked for Southern Bell. As newlyweds, the Blantons opened their Spero (then SC Telco) savings, checking, and IRA accounts. In reflecting on her fondest memory as a Spero member, Mrs. Blanton recounted her time using the Spero Member Solutions Center while living in Charleston.

“When we were in Charleston, because there wasn’t a local office, I would call the call center and handle our banking over the phone … so I got to know the ladies there pretty well. We [talked about] what our kids were doing and things like that. So, when we were up in Greenville, we stopped by Krispy Kreme, got a couple dozen donuts, went to Toy Street, knocked on the door, and said, ‘Hey, can we go meet the people in the call center and give them these donuts? They’ve been so helpful over the years!’”

As the Blanton family has grown, their relationship with Spero has deepened. Upon their daughters’ births, Barbara and John opened accounts for them and taught them how to save and manage their own checking and credit card accounts. Their oldest daughter, Stephanie, went on to receive Spero’s Louis C. Addison college scholarship to pursue a nursing degree. In fact, this story from early 2022 inspired Spero’s recent commercial. The commercial depicts the progression of a young girl dreaming of becoming a nurse. In the end, she does!

Barbara and John look back on their time with Spero with fondness. “Over the last 42 years, our credit union has been with us all the way. Most importantly, we’ve always been treated like family — not customers of a financial institution,” shared the Blantons. “Life’s journey goes quickly, and as we move into our senior years, we appreciate that although it has grown, Spero is still family.”

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