PSFCU Awards Academic Scholarships For The 10th Straight Year

Since Program's Inception, 1,400 Young PSFCU Members Have Received $2.1 Million in Financial Aid

Program Expands To Chicago

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Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union

Jul 06, 2010, 10:24 ET

NEW YORK, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- For the 10th straight year, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union has stepped forward to ensure that its young members are given the chance to fulfill their promise, as its annual scholarship program recently awarded 298 students a total of $300,000 to help defray the cost of their education.

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Since its inception in 2001, the nation's largest ethnic credit union's education program has handed out more than $2 million in academic scholarships to more than 1,400 students, mostly in New York and New Jersey. This year, the PSFCU expanded its largesse to Chicago, where it opened two branches earlier this year.

"This program has really come a long way since we awarded 13 students a mere $20,000 back in 2001," said Irena Marchaj, treasurer of the PSFCU board of directors, and chairperson of the board's Scholarship Committee. "We started with a simple goal of helping as many members as possible with the dream of gaining a college education. Today, we see how this program has touched the lives of so many young people. And with our successful expansion into Chicago, we've opened up this program to so many new students in that great city. For starters, 10 brilliant young Chicagoans received our aid this year."

The PSFCU's new Chicago branches, which have already attracted over 1,300 new members and amassed $23 million in deposits, bring PSFCU services to nearly 300,000 residents of Polish and Slavic descent living throughout the area.

Committed to helping its members reach their full potential, the PSFCU has been very active in supporting academic endeavors to benefit members. In addition to its annual scholarship program, the credit union has also recently donated more than $500,000 to endow the Chair of Polish Studies at Columbia University, and has made generous donations to the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.

"In these incredibly challenging times, it would be easy to step back our efforts and blame the economy, but that's not what we're about, and that's not what our members expect from us," said Dr. Thomas Bortnik, chairman of the board of the PSFCU. "Now, more than ever, these young people need a helping hand to succeed in their academic endeavors and we're proud to have made such an impact on their lives."

About the PSFCU

Founded in 1976 by a group of Polish immigrants to help other ethnic Poles obtain mortgages, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union now has 14 branches in New York, New Jersey and Chicago, a mobile branch, and an operations center in Fairfield, NJ. The 34-year-old credit union, with more than $1.3 billion in assets, serves 70,000 members of the Polish and Slavic community. This largest U.S. ethnic credit union also operates ATMs at the National Shrine at Doylestown, PA, and makes its services available nationwide via an Online Branch at www.psfcu.com.

SOURCE Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union