TAMPA, Fla. GTE Financial Credit Union has awarded 50 scholarships, up from the average 36 it has awarded each of the past five years. The credit union said the scholarships are part of its annual initiative to support education and reward young adults who are dedicated to academic excellence and community involvement.
GTE Financial chooses scholarship winners each year based on criteria that include academic achievement, demonstration of leadership abilities, and commitment to community service. Each student is awarded a $2,500 scholarship during a special awards luncheon.
“It is with great satisfaction that we present these future leaders with scholarships so that they may continue their studies and prepare for a bright future,” said Brian Best, president and CEO of GTE Financial. “Our 50 scholarship recipients have done an outstanding job both academically and in our community. They have lent a helping hand throughout to those most in need, with service that varies from delivering lunch bags to the homeless, volunteering with pediatric cancer patients, and giving empowering pep talks; these young adults are making a difference.”
This year’s event featured high school scholarship recipients such Alyssa Kowalczyk, who is delivering Bags of Hope to thousands of people in need in Tampa Bay.
“My greatest achievement through service is the nonprofit that I, along with two of my friends, founded and operate. Our mission is to help those less fortunate in Tampa Bay, through providing them with toiletry bags full of necessities. Since the beginning of Bags of Hope just two short years ago, we have provided the people in Tampa Bay area with over four thousand Bags of Hope, changing the lives of not only those who receive the bags but also the volunteers who assemble them,” Kowalczyk said.