OSCODA — Northland Area Federal Credit Union has awarded $10,000 in 2021 Jerry Erickson Educational scholarships to 10 outstanding member students who plan to pursue higher education. This scholarship program is named for Jerry Erickson, a retired volunteer and veteran who served the credit union for 46 years.

“It is especially meaningful to commemorate Jerry’s kindness, energy, and service to the community with a scholarship program in his name,” Northland President and CEO Pete Dzuris said. “On behalf of Northland, we congratulate the outstanding 2021 scholarship awardees and wish all of them educational, professional, and personal success.”

These scholarships support one of Northland’s most important goals: expanding access to education for student members in our local communities. The award recipients are chosen based on academic achievement, community service/involvement, and essay content.

“Northland prides itself on not only helping our members, but also giving back to our communities,” Scholarship Coordinator Alane Taylor said.”Based on this, we asked student applicants to write an essay on how community interruptions like COVID-19 and natural disasters impact education, the labor market and the labor force and how financial institutions can prepare to best handle these events to lessen the long-term impacts. Their answers were impressive.”

The outstanding awardees are as follows:

Tanner Trafelet, Oakland University

Jordyn Katterman, Saginaw Valley State University

Joseph Kimmerer, Northwood University

Katie Boensch, University of Michigan

Anna Loyer, Western Michigan University

Paige Balser, Oakland University

Carlie Forsythe, Delta College

Olivia Hemker, Alpena Community College

Caroline Forsythe, Delta College

Elle Brownell, Michigan State University

The scholarship committee would like to thank all of this year’s applicants for taking the time to apply for the 2021 Jerry Erickson scholarship award. Northland wishes all of the applicants much success with their college careers.

NAFCU is a member-owned credit union, serving 49,000 members in 10 counties in Northeastern Michigan. Visit northlandcu.com.