Jeanne DArc Credit Union Awards $19,500 in College Scholarships

LOWELL, MA – To help with the rising cost of college, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union awarded $19,500 in scholarships to its members through its MoneyStrong and Employee College Scholarship Programs. Each year, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union offers scholarships to both incoming college freshmen and current college students attending an accredited two or four-year college.

Applicants for the 22nd Annual MoneyStrong College Scholarship program were asked to write an essay in response to the prompt: “What are common scams that affect students and what can you do to prevent becoming a victim yourself?” This year, the Credit Union received more than seventy applications and granted twenty-six scholarships to students. Twenty-two of the recipients are high school seniors gearing up for their freshman year of college; four are currently attending various colleges throughout the area.

Through the Credit Union’s Employee Scholarship Program, Jeanne D’Arc employees, as well as an employee’s child or grandchild, are eligible to receive a $500 or $1,000 scholarship. There are six scholarships available, three of which were instituted to memorialize former Jeanne D’Arc employees and board members, and three were awarded to commemorate the Credit Union’s commitment to supporting volunteerism in the community. A total of $4,500 was awarded to six recipients of the Employee Scholarship Program.

There was an additional scholarship opportunity hosted by the Cooperative Credit Union Association (CCUA) available to credit union members. Each credit union has the opportunity to submit one application to the CCUA board for selection, and one of Jeanne D’Arc’s submissions, Joshua Goa from Nashua High School South, was selected as the winner of the $1,500 scholarship. This is the first time the Credit Union has had a member selected to receive this honor.

Recipients of the scholarships were honored on May 25, at a reception at Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union Headquarters.

“I am always so impressed by the accomplishments of our scholarship recipients, and all of our applicants,” said Mark S. Cochran, President and Chief Executive Officer at Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union. “We are proud to support this next generation of leaders and we know they’ll go on do to great things.”

The MoneyStrong Scholarship winners include:

Ellen Angwin from Chelmsford High School, Carnegie Mellon University; Morgan Armstrong from Lowell Catholic High School, St. Anslem College; Elizabeth Brunelle from Nashua High School, Wellesley College; Kiley Ciccolo from Lowell Catholic High School, University of Rhode Island; Emerson D’Amato from Dracut High School, University of Alabama; Alec Darrow from Nashua High School South, Clark University; Abbey Gingras from Greater Lowell Technical High School, Massachusetts Amherst; Emma Hartigan from Tyngsboro High School, Georg Mason University; Olivia Keating from Dracut High School, Emmanuel College; Daniel Martin from Dracut High School, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Bella McGuane from Dracut High School, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Giangelys Pena from Lowell High School, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Alexis Quirk from Dracut High School, University of New Hampshire; Anaiyah Rivera from Lowell Catholic, Bentley University; Ryan Saadah from Dracut High School, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Catherine Shanahan from Lowell High School, University of Rhode Island; Samaya Thapa from Dracut High School, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Sihaam Tibaleka from Lowell High School, Bunker Hill Community College; Kenna Tighe from Westford Academy, Endicott College; Malia Martel from Nashua High School South, University of New Hampshire; Christabell Mills from Dracut High School, Middlesex Community College; Happy Valintine from Nashua High School South, Nashua Community College; Carlos Bejar-Garcia, Harvard College; Patricia Clark, Franklin Pierce University; Patrick McKenna, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Sinai Robinson, Gordon College

The Employee College Scholarship winners include:

Timothy Nguyen, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Thomas King, Saint Anslem College; Trevor Dame, University of New Hampshire; Dylan Desmarais, Rivier University; Samantha Fagundes, Merrimack College; Sean King, Keene State University

About Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union:

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union was established in 1912 and is a full-service, community-based financial cooperative. Locally owned by 94,000 members with $1.8 billion in assets, Jeanne D’Arc operates eight full-service branches in Lowell, Dracut (2), Tyngsboro, Chelmsford, Methuen and Westford, Massachusetts, and Nashua, New Hampshire; high-school branches at Lowell High, Dracut High, and Nashua High School South; a loan center in Lowell; and a mortgage center in Chelmsford. Follow Jeanne D’Arc on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and check out our Money Mill blog today.