The Scholarship Committee of the Ukrainian National Association (UNA) is pleased to announce the establishment of a new scholarship for students. The Maria and Taras Slevinsky Scholarship will provide students who are studying nursing full time $1,000 per year.
Eligibility for the new scholarship includes the following criteria: 1) students must have a UNA qualifying policy; 2) students must be studying nursing full time; 3) students must be enrolled as full-time undergraduate students at an accredited college or university in the United States or Canada; and 4) students must submit a completed UNA scholarship application and provide a brief essay.
The scholarship is named in honor of Maria and Taras Slevinsky. Mr. Slevinsky passed away in July in Connecticut. His wife of over 70 years, Maria Slevinsky, and his granddaughter, Lydia Kowinko, chose to honor Mr. Slevinsky by establishing a UNA scholarship in Mr. Slevinsky’s name. Mr. Slevinsky was a secretary of UNA Branch 93 in Bridgeport, Conn., and was active in the Ukrainian community in Connecticut. The UNA’s Scholarship Committee extended a special thank you to the Slevinsky family for establishing the Maria and Taras Slevinsky Scholarship.
The UNA has a long history of supporting students in their academic studies. The organization’s first scholarships were small stipends awarded to promising students to help them attain a better future. A formal scholarship program for student members was established in 1964.
With the addition of the Maria and Taras Slevinsky Scholarship, the UNA now has 12 Special Scholarships in addition to UNA Awards, which are based on the applicant’s year of study.
In addition to scholarships, the UNA offers a number of options for both parents and grandparents to assist with handling the cost of higher education for their children. Most popular are endowment policies that provide insurance protection and at maturity allow students to use the funds for college expenses. In addition, the UNA offers a Coverdell Education Savings Account that allows up to $2,000 per year to be placed in an account that will grow tax free. Withdrawals from the account can be made up to age 30 for a student’s qualified educational expenses.
Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are encouraged to enroll their children in the UNA in order to take advantage of the UNA’s scholarships. To discuss available UNA products or options for college funding, readers are encouraged to contact the UNA or visit the UNA’s website, www.unainc.org, where they can see a listing of all of the UNA scholarships and the requirements for student applications. For more information, readers may contact Maria Drich, 973-292-9800, ext. 3035.
The deadline for 2022-2023 applications on all scholarship awards is June 1, 2022.
Eugene Serba, MBA, is the second vice president of the UNA and the chair of the UNA’s Scholarship Committee.