Press
Summit Credit Union’s second-annual ‘Member Fest’ awards continuing education scholarships, breaks attendance record
MADISON, Wisconsin — Thanks in part to its family-friendly, picnic festival format and nice weather, Summit Credit Union’s ‘Member Fest’ annual meeting achieved a record attendance of 1,895, nearly doubling last year’s turnout.
The Credit Union transformed its traditional annual membership meeting into a family friendly festival in 2014 in an effort to celebrate the cooperative difference and thank its members. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, prompting the growth in attendance. The event features picnic fare, music, prizes and kids’ activities such as face painting, balloon animals, tattoos, bounce houses and an obstacle race.
More than 300 children participated in the obstacle races which began with a “Diaper Dash” for 1- to 2-year-olds and ended with a “Varsity Chase & Climb” for tweens that included inflatable obstacles, a net crawl and a climbing wall. Given an opportunity to donate to three Summit community partner organizations as part of the event, Summit members gave more than $500 to the American Heart Association, Boys and Girls Club of Dane County and Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS).
Summit also awarded three $1,500 Volunteer Board of Directors continuing-education tuition scholarships at the event to:
- Benjamin Geenen from Baraboo, Wisconsin. Benjamin will graduate from Baraboo High School this month and plans to attend the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, majoring in biology, pre-medicine.
- Grace Kleven, from Marshall, Wisconsin. Grace is a 2014 graduate of Marshall High School and attends the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater where she majors in biology, pre-medicine.
- Haylee Schmirler, from Madison, Wisconsin. Haylee will graduate from La Follette High School this month and plans to attend the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, majoring in gender, women and sexuality studies and biology, pre-medicine.
Summit also awarded its $2,500 Mary Siedlecki Board Scholarship to the Urban League of Greater Madison’s 21st Century Careers Program. This program helps students begin to develop their post-secondary and career goals in middle school so that they enter high school prepared for a rigorous pre-college curriculum.
More than 80 Summit employees volunteered their time at Member Fest, which was held at Warner Park in Madison on May 31 and featured a sign-language interpreter. Planning is already in process for next year’s Member Fest.
About the Summit Credit Union Volunteer Board of Directors Scholarships:
The Board of Directors Scholarship program supports Summit’s commitment to education and to the communities it serves. Ninety-seven students applied for the Volunteer Board of Directors Scholarships this year. Recipients were chosen based on grade point averages, extracurricular and community activities, employment experience and an essay on how a credit union’s cooperative structure benefits its members and the communities it serves.
Including the above-mentioned scholarships, Summit Credit Union awards more than $20,000 in scholarships to students each year. Applications for the 2016 Summit Credit Union Board of Directors Scholarships will be posted at www.summitcreditunion.com beginning January, 2016.
About Summit Credit Union:
Established in 1935, Summit Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative open to anyone in Wisconsin. Summit holds $2.2 billion in assets and has more than 144,000 members with 30 locations throughout the Madison and Milwaukee areas. For more information, visit www.summitcreditunion.com or call 608-243-5000 or 1-800-236-5560.