NEW YORK – Self Reliance New York Federal Credit Union held its 67th annual membership meeting here at St. George Academy on Sunday afternoon, March 18. Reports were presented by the credit union’s management, and elections were held for two seats on the board of directors.
With assets of nearly $1.33 billion as of yearend 2017, Self Reliance New York is the largest Ukrainian American credit union, and it is in the top 4 percent of the 6,011 credit unions in the United States.
The meeting was called to order by Stefan Kaczaraj, chairman of the board, who turned conduct of the meeting over to Bohdan Kurczak, president and chief executive officer.
The opening ceremonies included the presentation of flags, the singing of the national anthems of the United States and Ukraine by the Dumka Chorus under the direction of Vasyl Hrechynsky, and an invocation by Bishop emeritus Basil Losten. A moment of silence was observed for all the credit union members who had passed away during the previous year.
Members at the 67th annual meeting of Self Reliance New York Federal Credit Union.
Once the agenda of the meeting was approved and the minutes of the 2017 annual meeting were read by Andrew Juzeniw, secretary of the board of directors, and accepted by the membership, the meeting focused on reports for 2017.
Speaking for the board and the management, Mr. Kurczak was pleased to report to members that assets grew last year by $61.06 million, or 4.8 percent, and that net income was close to $10.15 million, representing an increase of 3.2 percent over the figure for 2016.
Dividends paid to members totaled nearly $22.25 million in 2017 – an increase of 9.2 percent over 2016. Membership also increased, with 637 new members joining; the credit union’s membership stood at 15,276 as of December 31, 2017.
As underscored in Self Reliance New York’s annual report distributed to members, “Through our extensive financial support, we endeavor to help maintain and build the Ukrainian communities we served. On the strength of our 2017 financial performance, the credit union contributed $1,181,858 to our youth, cultural, religious, educational and humanitarian organizations.”
Orest Kebalo, chairman, presented the report of the Credit Committee. He noted that last year the credit union approved 186 loans for a total of over $87.26 million, which included 138 new mortgages.
The Supervisory Committee report was delivered by member Bohdan Chaban. He cited the National Credit Union Administration’s regulatory examination for 2017, which concluded that Self Reliance New York is financially sound, well capitalized and managed in a safe and sound manner.
President/CEO Kurczak then introduced the presidium of the meeting and honored guests, among them Ukraine’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko; the newly appointed consul general in New York, Oleksii Holubov; Consyl Denys Semenovych; and the Revs. Emilian Dorosh and George Bazylevsky.
After a vote of confidence for the outing board was unanimously approved, a series of greetings was delivered, including those from Bishop Paul Chomnycky of the Stamford Eparchy of the Ukrainian Catholic Church (read by Bishop Basil); Ambassador Yelchenko; Consul General Holubov; Andrij Horbachevsky, chairman of the Ukrainian National Credit Union Association; Walter Kozicky, honorary chairman of the board of SUMA Yonkers Federal Credit Union; Yaroslav Koshelevskiy, vice-chairman of the Ukrainian National Federal Credit Union; Oleh Lopatynsky, president of the Self Reliance Association; and Natalia Duma, head of the New York branch of the Self Reliance Association.
Next came elections to the board of directors. The Nominations Committee chaired by Orest Glut reported that there were no additional candidates for the board and recommended the re-election of Messrs. Kurczak and Juzeniw, whose terms were expiring, presenting their qualifications and achievements. The two candidates were unanimously re-elected by the members.
Chairman of the Board Kaczaraj thanked the Nominations Committee and congratulated the two board members.
Representatives of community organizations line up to deliver greetings and thanks to Self Reliance New York for its support of their work.
Greetings and gratitude were expressed by numerous community organizations whose representatives attended the annual meeting. Among them were: the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, Ukrainian American Youth Association, Ukrainian National Information Service, The Ukrainian Museum, Dumka Chorus, Promin Vocal Ensemble, Yara Arts Group, Music and Art Center of Greene County, St. George Academy, St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral and the Vovcha Tropa Regional Camp Committee of Plast.
The meeting was concluded with Mr. Kurczak offering thanks for the community’s acknowledgements followed by a benediction by the Rev. Bazylevsky. Afterwards, attendees enjoyed a festive luncheon.