[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 17 (Monday, February 2, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING SUMA FEDERAL CREDIT UNION'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 2, 2015

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, financial service organizations have the 
ability to change lives and lift up entire communities. Such has been 
the case with SUMA Federal Credit Union, which celebrated its 50th 
anniversary in 2014 at their Jubilee Banquet.
  SUMA was organized by a small contingent of Ukrainian immigrants who 
settled in Yonkers after World War II. Citing the growing need for 
financial services in order to improve the quality of life for their 
families, they developed a credit union whereby financial resources 
would be pooled to help obtain less expensive loans and insurance.
  To comply with National Credit Union Association requirements, they 
chose to support the Ukrainian American Youth Association, Yonkers 
branch, as their sponsor. Using shoe boxes to store cash reserves, the 
credit union opened for business in September of 1964, and in four 
short months had accumulated over $25,000 in assets from 82 members. 
For the next several decades, the SUMA Credit Union continued to grow 
and expand, establishing branch offices in Spring Valley, New York as 
well as Stamford, Connecticut.
  Today, SUMA has a membership base of over 7,000 and over $286,000,000 
in total assets. But their impact goes beyond the financial wellbeing 
of its members; it has lifted up an entire community and provided 
incredible support to the excellent works of the Ukrainian American 
Youth Organization.
  The SUMA Federal Credit Union is a testament to the power of the 
financial sector and its ability to positively impact communities. I am 
proud to represent such a fine organization in the House of 
Representatives and wish them nothing but continued success in their 
next 50 years.

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