BURNSVILLE, Minn.–Firefly Credit Union members received $7,600 in scholarships during the 2019-20 academic year. Scholarships were awarded for Firefly’s Locally Grown scholarship as well as the credit union’s Blood Drive Scholarship with Memorial Blood Centers (MBC). Additionally, one member received an award from the Minnesota Credit Union Foundation Scholarship Council (FSC).
Four students were awarded $1,000 scholarships as part of the credit union’s Locally Grown scholarship. The scholarship was open to all members who plan to attend post-secondary education during the 2020-21 academic year. Applicants were asked to answer three short essay prompts to be considered for the scholarship.
“College comes with a substantial cost, and I know that planning for that is a necessity that will help me not to be crippled by my education financially over the long term,” said one of the recipients. “I have set and met achievable goals so that I can more effectively manage my money and see future success.”
Firefly also awarded scholarship dollars in collaboration with Memorial Blood Centers, to two Burnsville High School (BHS) seniors Lucas J. and Emma H. for their efforts in coordinating student blood drives. Firefly and MBC each contributed $10 for each unit of blood donated at the drives held throughout the 2019-20 academic year. Together, the drives collected 260 units of blood – leading to a total of $2,600 in scholarship dollars from Firefly.
Additionally, Firefly member Grant H. received a $1,000 scholarship from the Minnesota Credit Union Foundation Scholarship Council.
Grant was selected out of over 950 applicants for his community involvement and essay, which answered the prompt, “What is your plan to afford the costs of higher education based on your anticipated degree and future career income?”
“Knowing that I have to pay back every dollar I borrow makes me more vested in the process,” said Grant. “Additionally, paying for my classes will motivate me to attend my classes and achieve good grades. All of these steps will get me to my goal of becoming a chemist with minimal amounts of debt.”