Mainstreet CU Establishes Education Fund to Honor Long-time Board Member

Posted: 2011-01-31 00:00:00

Lenexa, Kan. (Jan. 31, 2011) – Mainstreet Credit Union, a $276 million institution serving communities throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area, has established an educational fund to honor its long-time board member Dr. Ralph E. (Jack) Chalender.

The Jack Chalender Legacy Fund recognizes Dr. Chalender’s service to the credit union and the community it serves, and his commitment to education. For many years, Dr. Chalender was a significant volunteer furthering the work of Mainstreet Credit Union, serving on its board of directors for 37 years, with 30 of those years as chairman. He retired from the board in 2009. Additionally, he served more than 40 years in the field of education, mostly in the Shawnee Mission School District, until he retired from his post as associate superintendent in 1983.

“It is an honor to pay tribute to someone who has meant so much to both Mainstreet Credit Union and the Shawnee Mission School District,” said John Beverlin, Mainstreet Credit Union President/CEO. “Jack is a stranger to no one. He has played the role of teacher, counselor, boss, mentor and friend to many – not just at the school district, but at the credit union as well.”

The first Jack Chalender Legacy Fund grant was awarded to Barbara Novak, teacher at Antioch Middle School, for the purchase of classroom e-readers to encourage student reading.

Mainstreet Credit Union will endow the fund over the next five years to establish an annual grant in Dr. Chalender’s name to finance educator grants with a preference to middle school projects. The fund will be managed by the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation.

Linda Roser, Shawnee Mission Education Foundation Executive Director, acknowledged the credit union’s ongoing role in supporting educational initiatives. “Mainstreet Credit Union sets a high standard of leadership embodying the meaning of school-community partnership,” she said.

Mainstreet Credit Union, formerly Credit Union of Johnson County, has a long history with the Shawnee Mission School District. Its beginnings date back to 1953, when a group of teachers at the district’s then only high school, started the credit union to meet the financial needs of school employees.

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About Mainstreet Credit Union

Mainstreet Credit Union, formerly Credit Union of Johnson County, has provided financial products and services to area residents and employees of Johnson County-based businesses since 1953. In 2005, its field of membership expanded to include residents and employees throughout the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2008, Free State Credit Union joined with Mainstreet Credit Union, adding two additional branches in Lawrence, Kan; and in 2009, both Leavenworth Teachers & Community Credit Union and Faith Financial Federal Credit Union merged with the Credit Union, adding two more branch locations in Leavenworth, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo. Most recently, Wyandotte Credit Union joined Mainstreet Credit Union through a merger, adding a ninth branch location in Kansas City, Kan. 

With assets of more than $276 million, the credit union provides 56,000 members with checking and savings, loans and mortgages, and deposit and investment products, as well as a nationwide network of fee-free ATMs. For more information, visit www.mainstreetcu.org or call (888) 395-1010.