LIHU‘E — Hawai‘iUSA Federal Credit Union recently announced it will be adding more scholarship awards in its 2021 program for members who are undergraduate or graduate students for the upcoming school year.
HawaiiUSA FCU’s Member Engagement Director Taylor Shigemoto, of the Lihu‘e Community Outreach Office, detailed of their scholarship program’s expected eligibility criteria.
“We only been here for seven months, but for the future, if a high-school graduating senior became a member of our credit union for a year and their account is in good standing, they can submit an application,” said Taylor Shigemoto, Hawai‘iUSA FCU’s member engagement director out of the Lihu‘e Community Outreach Office.
“And now, with our additional eight scholarships, any member who is an undergraduate or graduate student can also apply.”
Any Kaua‘i resident with children in college statewide who is a primary CU member with an account in good standing at one of Hawai‘iUSA FCU’s credit unions can apply for the scholarship program this year.
“It’s reserved for the undergraduate and graduate students to continue their higher-level education,” Shigemoto said. “And prior recipients of Hawai‘iUSA FCU scholarships may reapply and will be evaluated with current applicants.”
Hawai‘iUSA FCU is giving out 12 awards of $2,000 each for graduating high-school seniors planning to attend any two- to four-year accredited institution of higher learning. Eight awards of $2,000 each will be given to undergraduate or graduate students for the 2021-22 academic year.
Graduates must be classified as full-time students. Recipients must be enrolled as full-time college students during the 2021-22 academic year.
Since 1990, Hawai‘iUSA FCU has awarded 499 scholarships for a total of $721,500.
Hawai‘iUSA FCU has partnered with the state Department of Education’s Personnel Development Branch to provide career-enhancement opportunities for state educators. Program applicants can receive reimbursement for degree-focused and professional-development course work.
Throughout 80 years, Hawai‘iUSA FCU has awarded over $141,000 to DOE employees, nearly 900 stipend recipients, while donating over $14,000 to schools statewide.
Besides giving out annual scholarships, Hawai‘iUSA FCU volunteers their time into community events.
“We are very active with going out and doing some volunteer work,” Karen Shigemoto said. “This past weekend we volunteered at the HLTA’s (Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association) golf tournament. I also volunteered to any Kaua‘i food distribution. The last one I went to is the Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center.”
“We also participated in last year’s Back to School Bash here in Kukui Grove Center,” Taylor Shigemoto said.
“And the Read Across America. We just put it away, but we had a whole stack of books here that promoted Read Across America, so if kids came in, took a sheet and read their eight books, they could come with their sheet and redeem it. They had a very high-end selection of different books.”
The deadline to apply for Hawai‘iUSA FCU scholarships is Friday, Feb. 12.
For more information, see hawaiiusafcu.com/Resources/Education/Scholarship.
•••
Stephanie Shinno, features, education, business, and community reporter can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com.
