Credit union members fund scholarships for continuing education

SANFORD, N.C. — Scholarships provided to students who are pursuing continuing education can make a big difference. 

That was true for Lashonda Smith; during the same semester she was studying for her manicurist license at CCCC, she dealt with an injury that hit her financially. The $500 scholarship she had received from the State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation helped her be able to pay her mortgage at that time. 

“It was a godsend that I had the extra money that came in from this scholarship,” she said. 

Central Carolina Community College recently celebrated Smith and 28 other recipients of the 2024-25 SECU Bridge to Career Scholarship at a recognition ceremony at CCCC’s Dennis A. Wicker Civic and Conference Center in Sanford. 

The Bridge to Career Scholarship recipients all took continuing education workforce development courses at CCCC, participating in classes that do not count toward a degree, but do lead to state-recognized or industry-supported credentials. 

SECU Foundation Program Officer Jazmine Stevenson explained that the scholarships are funded by members who have checking accounts with the credit union. Each account comes with a monthly $1 fee, and that money is used to support community projects across the state, including the Bridge to Career Scholarships, offered in partnership with each of North Carolina’s 58 community colleges. 

“What makes today so inspiring is knowing that every one of our scholarship recipients brought their own story to the journey,” said Lincoln Frye, CCCC Workforce Continuing Education Program Coordinator. “Some of them are starting something new. Others are returning to education after a few years away, and everyone has made sacrifices to get here, showing up to class after long workdays, studying late at night or finding creative ways to balance life’s campus — a proof that determination and hard work truly does pay off.”