Wheatley Heights, NY - August 10, 2015 - For the fifth year, talented Long Island music students received a unique opportunity to study and perform at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. The program was developed by Usdan Center in 2011 and supported with a charitable grant from Bethpage Federal Credit Union.  The Usdan Center/Bethpage Scholars in the Arts program gives accomplished students, who otherwise couldn’t attend Usdan, the opportunity to study at the country’s largest not-for-profit summer arts day camp. The students were chosen for their fine musicianship and for their achievements as outstanding representatives of their communities.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union also sponsored “micro” grants last year to assist music students from the North Babylon school district, which paid for the students’ many additional expenses normally associated with year-round music study that can become a stumbling block for underserved families. More than 70 North Babylon High School students were beneficiaries of the grant.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative, existing solely to serve its members and has experienced rapid growth in recent years to become a strong alternative to banks. Bethpage was approved for the largest federal community charter in the U.S. in 2003 and now is New York State’s largest credit union and Long Island’s primary community financial institution with 232,000 members, 27 branches and 60 shared service center locations throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties. As a financial cooperative, Bethpage offers the best-in-market rates, low fees and world-class service, and a full menu of personal and commercial financial services.
 
Bethpage maintains branch locations in Bay Shore, Bay Shore King Kullen, Bethpage, Central Islip, Commack King Kullen, East Meadow NuHealth, Elmont, Farmingdale, Freeport, Glen Cove, Hempstead, Huntington, Levittown King Kullen, Lynbrook, Massapequa, Melville, Mineola, North Babylon, Patchogue, Port Jefferson, Riverhead, Seaford, Smithtown, Roosevelt, Valley Stream King Kullen, West Babylon and Westbury with over 425 surcharge-free ATMs including King Kullen, CVS Pharmacy, 7-11 and Costco locations throughout Long Island.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts opened its 48th season on June 29th. Featuring more than 60 programs, it is annually attended by students from Long Island, New York City and additional neighborhoods throughout the Tri-State Area. Usdan has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 young people since its inaugural season in 1968. The Center is situated on a magnificent 200-acre woodland campus in the Town of Huntington, Long Island, and is open to all young people from ages 5 to 18. A hallmark of Usdan’s mission is its tradition of welcoming all students based solely on their expression of interest in the arts, as no audition is required for most courses. The Center offers programs in music, dance, theater, visual arts, creative writing, nature and ecology, and chess, in flexible 3, 4 and 7-week sessions. Although the mission of the Center is for every child to establish a relationship with the arts, the unique stimulation of the Center has caused many to go on to arts careers. Alumni include Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, jazz star Jane Monheit, Seth Rudetsky, Jackie Hoffman, Olivia Thirlby, Taylor Dane and members of Broadway shows and major music, theater, and dance ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet. Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA Federation of New York. For more information, write to info@usdan.com, Call (631) 643-7900, or visit usdan.com.

Pictured: Bethpage Federal Credit Union, which sponsored several music scholarships at Usdan Center this summer, visited the Center and the scholarship students last week. (From left to right) Student musicians and their sponsoring Bethpage Federal Union branch managers: student Brendan Sperling and Branch Manager Pedro Magalhaes, Centereach; student Gregory Gaglione and Branch Manager Christian Noboa, Glen Cove; North Babylon Branch Manager Elida Gomez with student Nicole Gonzalez; student Ilana Blumenthal with Branch Manager Michelle Piccirillo, Long Beach; student Natalie Anantua with Branch Manager Diane Johnson, Elmont; and Dale Lewis, Executive Director of Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts.