By GREGORY ZELLER //
Farmingdale State College students struggling with tuition payments – and other basic necessities, including food – just got a big boost from Bethpage Federal Credit Union.
The Bethpage-based financial institution has gifted $100,000 to the Farmingdale State College Nader-Wolverton Student Emergency Fund, which provides backup bucks for students experiencing financial hardships – particularly students nearing graduation and those pressured to withdraw from Farmingdale State over financial concerns.
School-related expenses are in play, along with emergency stipends covering transportation, emergency on-campus housing and more.
The Nader-Wolverton Student Emergency Fund – supported over the last three years by donations large and small – is a philanthropic commitment made by Farmingdale State President John Nader and his wife, Kathy Wolverton. Bethpage Federal’s donation was announced Nov. 3 at the annual Farmingdale State College President’s Gala.
Supporting the emergency trust was a no-brainer for the credit union, according to Bethpage Federal Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Linda Armyn, who said the personal stories of students supported by the Nader-Wolverton Student Emergency Fund “truly capture the impact corporate giving can make in people’s lives.”
Big fans: John Nader and Kathy Wolverton, proud supporters of hardworking students (and the New York Mets).
“Bethpage is a longtime supporter of Farmingdale State College as an institution committed to catapulting students to a bright future,” Armyn, who also co-chairs the influential Long Island Regional Economic Development Council alongside Nader, said in a statement. “We are honored to have a role in helping these deserving students get the support they need to finish their college education and start their professional journey.”
Among those benefitting from the fund are Farmingdale State senior Trinity Jackson, a Science, Technology and Society major on her way to an accelerated nursing program, en route to fulfilling her dream of becoming a physician’s assistant.
Medical issues strained Jackson’s single-parent household to the point where the active and high-achieving student – she’d posted a 3.79 GPA through her junior year – was in danger of not finishing her degree.
“My mother worked tirelessly to get me through college,” Jackson noted. “She taught me that education was the most important thing that you can get out of life, because it will create opportunities.
“I have been truly blessed with assistance that will allow me to graduate in Fall 2022,” she added. “When I walk across the stage, I will be the first … college graduate in my family, thanks to the emergency fund.”
Also saved by the fund was FSC junior Angelica Britez, an aspiring accountant who had to escape a dangerous home life – “for my own safety and mental health,” she said – and strike out on her own, putting her education at severe risk.
“[Leaving home] created many obstacles, including having to pay for college on my own,” Britez noted. “With the help of the Emergency Fund, I will graduate in December 2023 and earn a degree that I’ve been working toward for the last three years.”
Success stories like that are exactly why he and Wolverton started the Student Emergency Fund, Nader noted – and BFCU’s $100,000 gift is “a wonderful example of the truly transformative impact that Bethpage Federal Credit Union has on our region.”
“Almost nothing we can say about Bethpage Federal Credit Union will capture fully their impact on the broader community,” the college president added. “The volunteer work of their leadership and staff take place on an unmatched scale, and we cannot thank them enough for their ongoing support.
“This is an institution that touches many thousands of lives.”
