LAWRENCEVILLE, GA (December 1, 2021) – Peach State Federal Credit Union is now accepting applications for its annual scholarship program. Almost $200,000 in scholarships and educational grants will be awarded by the Peach State FCU C.A.R.E.S. Foundation to seniors in high school and professionals seeking career advancement. The scholarship program was established 20 years ago and honors the credit union’s founders, past and present board members and employees, as well as the lifetime achievements of numerous distinguished school system and community leaders.  

Scholarship winners will be announced in the spring of 2022. The following is a list of all available scholarships:

• Five $5,000 Legacy Student Scholarships    

• Sixteen $3,000 school system and community honoree student scholarships

• Three $5,000 Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) honoree student scholarships

• Twenty-eight $2,500 Career Advancement Scholarships

Peach State is also proud to support the following organizations with a combined total of more than $38,000 in scholarships and educational grants:

• Georgia Gwinnett College

• Gwinnett County Public Schools

• Gwinnett Technical College

• North Georgia Technical College Foundation (NGTC)

• REACH Georgia Scholarships | Barrow County Schools

• REACH Georgia Scholarships | Burke County Schools

• REACH Georgia Scholarships | Franklin County Schools

• REACH Georgia Scholarships | Habersham County Schools

• REACH Georgia Scholarships | Oconee County Schools

• REACH Georgia Scholarships | Trion City Schools

• Toccoa Falls College

• Walker County LAUNCH Program

Several new scholarships have been added to the 2022 scholarship program. The Celeste Norton Wilbanks Scholarship was created in honor of former GCPS Superintendent, J. Alvin Wilbanks’ late wife, and will be awarded to a GCPS college-bound senior who demonstrates compassion, citizenship, and strong moral character in his or her local school and community. Two scholarships honoring the late Dr. Mark Ivester, former President at North Georgia Technical College, will be awarded to students currently taking classes at NGTC.

“We recently celebrated our 60th anniversary at the credit union,” remarked Marshall Boutwell, Peach State’s President/CEO. “Our annual scholarship program serves as a poignant reminder that we were founded by educators all those years ago. Today, we strive to honor that foundation by maintaining a focus on education in everything that we do.”

Applications and eligibility criteria are available on the credit union’s website at https://www.peachstatefcu.org/Forms-and-Resources/Scholarships. 

About the Peach State FCU C.A.R.E.S. Foundation

Peach State Federal Credit Union’s passion for helping their members and community guided them to create the Peach State FCU C.A.R.E.S. Foundation. The Foundation is funded by the credit union’s VISA® Debit Card program and private donors. Since the inception of the Peach State C.A.R.E.S. VISA® Debit Card program in July 2019, Peach State has donated more than $1.3 million to charitable organizations, school systems and the arts in the communities that we serve. The C.A.R.E.S. program was created to put these contributions on a sustainable path for the future. To learn more about how Peach State cares, visit https://www.peachstatefcu.org/Stories/Peach-State-CARES. Peach State is a $761 million not-for-profit financial cooperative that serves more than 73,000 members in Georgia and South Carolina with a mission to provide quality financial services that meet the needs and exceed the expectations of its member-owners. For more information about products and services, visit www.peachstatefcu.org.