Everything is bigger in Texas, including the amount of charitable donations Lone Star State credit unions make to their members and their communities. While many credit unions are generous, one clearly stands out from the crowd.
In August 2014, the $1.9 billion University Federal Credit Union in Austin donated $1.5 million toward the construction of the Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas.
The $50 million facility will be the center of a new Austin downtown medical district and serve as the primary training site for students at The University of Texas at Austin's Dell Medical School. The new hospital is scheduled to open in 2017.
"Our university partners produce talent critical to continued growth, vitality and quality of life, which of course generates more long-term business opportunities for a not-for-profit cooperative such as ours," UFCU President/CEO Tony Budet said. "By aligning UFCU's human, financial and other resources with those of higher education in Austin, we become an active participant in a virtuous circle."
While the $1.5 million was UFCU's single largest charitable donation to date, it's just one part of the credit union's commitment to Central Texas' higher education and healthcare communities, according to Sheila Jo Wojcik, UFCU's senior vice president of communications and corporate affairs.
UFCU has many of its charitable donations under contractual obligations, some of which span more than a decade, Wojcik said. The largest of those agreements is a 15-year commitment of $1 million annually in support and for the naming rights of the UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the home of the University of Texas Longhorns.
UFCU also provides $125,000 in scholarship and academic program funding to Texas State University in San Marcos, a multi-year agreement that will total $625,000 when its ends in 2018. The credit union has donated $50,000 both this year and last year to the UT-Dell Medical School, amounts in addition to the $1.5 million Seton Medical Center donation.
This year also will see a $30,000 scholarship donation to the University of Texas in Galveston, a $25,000 donation to St. Edwards University in Austin to support international students' travel, and $10,000 in scholarship funding to Texas A&M University in Round Rock.
UFCU's charitable support last year totaled $1.3 million, or 10% of the credit union's net earnings, Wojcik said.
"Our vision is a higher education community made strong through shared values and high-impact relationships," she added. "And part of those high-impact relations are donations to higher education and healthcare."
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