Pictured from left to right, back row followed by front row: Foundation President Marcus Smith, Foundation Executive Director Tricia Bass, Foundation Vice President Lindsey Murphy, Foundation Secretary Haley Pate, Foundation Treasurer Linda Purdy and Foundation Director Buddy Stephens. (Photo: ECU)
The $404 million Education Credit Union in Amarillo, Texas announced the launch of Education Credit Union Foundation Wednesday with the goal of further deepening its community support in the Texas Panhandle region.
According to the credit union, the mission of the ECU Foundation is to "promote public trust in philanthropy as well as academic, financial and cultural learning."
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"The Foundation is being formed to continue and grow the legacy of community involvement and caring for which the credit union has such a rich track record," Foundation Executive Director Tricia Bass said, adding, "The Foundation promotes upward socio-economic mobility of children and adults in the Texas Panhandle community."
The ECU Foundation's three areas of focus will be:
- School employee grants: Since 2009, ECU has awarded more than $500,000 in what it calls "Pocket Change Grants" to school employees throughout the Texas Panhandle, and the credit union plans to award more of these grants with the creation of the ECU Foundation. Applications for Pocket Change Grants will be accepted until Oct. 15 and the grant funds will be delivered to schools prior to winter break 2022, ECU said.
- Scholarships: The ECU Foundation plans to award four $4,000 scholarships to member-students each year.
- Philanthropy: The ECU Foundation plans to give monetary support to select 501(c)(3) organizations that request funds, operating on funding period schedules of January to March, April to June and July to September.
The ECU Foundation has established a website at ecu-foundation.org.
ECU serves more than 32,000 members who work in education – including homeschoolers, employees of public and private institutions of learning, and school council or board members – or live within a 10-mile radius of the credit union's seven branches in Amarillo, Bushland and Canyon, Texas.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
