It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2011 North Winnipeg Credit Union scholarship winners:

Tyler Spencer
Maples Collegiate

Tyler has an excellent academic record and have proven an outstanding leadership skills during his school years. He participated in many school projects, including Student Council (Co-President), Maples Amnesty International Group (President), Annual Social Justice and Stewardship Fair and peer tutoring. Outside the school Tyler volunteers at Take Pride Winnipeg, Seven Oaks Hospital, M.S. Society of Manitoba and performs Special Needs turoring.

Tyler takes pride in his Ukrainian inheritance. As part of his involvement in Ukrainian community, Tyler has been volunteering at many activities and events at his church – Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church and actively participated in Folklorama and various Ukrainian community events.

Tyler Spencer plans to pursue a Science Degree at University of Winnipeg and then a Medical Degree at University of Manitoba.


Michael Szelemej
Miles MacDonnell Collegiate


Michael is a very gifted and enthusiastic student. While in school, he was involved in Youth in Philantropy group, was member of Vietnam Orphanage Committee, participated in school’s Key Club and was a peer tutor. Despite his demanding academic schedule and extra-cirricular involvement, outside of school, Micheal volunteered at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and at Holy Family Home.

Michael is very proud of his Ukrainian heritage and is actively involved in Ukrainian community. He volunteered at Folklorama Ukraine Pavilion for the past 7 years. He is a President of Sts. Vladimir and Olga Cathedral Altar Servers where he organized bake sale for orphanages in Ukraine. In the past, Michael was a member of Ukrainian National Federation School of Dance.

Michael Szelemej plans to pursue a graduate studies in the area of science at University of Manitoba.

Recent studies have found that Canadians are saving less money than the used to. That’s not entirely surprising, given the tougher economic times. But most people agree that saving money — whether it’s for retirement, a down payment on a house, a child’s university education or just a rainy day — is a priority for them. So how do you develop the discipline to save on a regular basis? Here are some helpful tips:

• Make a budget. The first step towards saving money is recognizing where your money is going. Start by making a list of all your expenses. From there, you can start to decide which expenses are necessary and which ones can be cut out.

• Eliminate waste. Sometimes saving money simply means being smart with your money. Avoiding things like late fees can prevent needless spending.

• Pay down high-interest debt. If you owe money on credit cards, where you’re paying a high rate of interest, focus on paying those down first. The less money you give away in interest, the more you have to save for other things.

• Make healthy choices. Strangely enough, sometimes healthy choices can be as good for your wallet as they are for your body. Things like smoking and eating a lot of fast food are not only unhealthy; they also cost a fair amount of money. If you can reduce or do away with those sorts of expenses, you’ll save money and feel better.

• There are 41 credit unions in Manitoba, with 185 branches — 60 in Winnipeg and 125 outside of Winnipeg.

• Manitoba’s credit unions have $8.3 billion in total assets (as of June 30, 2011).

• There are 606,181 total credit union memberships in Manitoba (as of June 30, 2010).

• Sean Connery once earned a living driving a horse-drawn milk float for a co-op in Edinburgh. There’s no record as to whether the milk arrived shaken or stirred, or if Connery was given a license to spill.

• The Associated Press (AP), London (England) Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic are all run as co-operatives.

• Rural electric cooperatives operate more than half of the electric distribution lines in the United States.

• Bee Maid honey, Granny’s poultry and Peak of the Market vegetables are all produced by Manitoba cooperatives.

• You may also have tasted some of these cooperatively produced products: Sunkist oranges, Welch’s grape juice, Ocean Spray cranberries, Sun-Maid raisins and Blue Diamond almonds.