FIRST Heritage Co-operative Credit Union (FHC) has made a firm commitment to developing and nurturing Jamaica's youth.

During a recently held awards ceremony, the company handed out a total of $2,610,000 including 17 new GSAT Scholarships worth $620,000, $360,000 for 18 existing GSAT awardees, $1,500,000 to seven final-year university students as well as $130,000 for five essay competition winners and two participating schools.

"Our scholarship programme and essay competitions were established to fulfil our mandate of giving back to our members, to encourage children to strive for excellence in academic performance and to promote an expectation of reward for hard work," said Juven Montague-Anderson, assistant general manager, marketing & communications.

"As more and more parents are finding it extremely challenging to fund their children's educational needs, FHC has made a commitment to rewarding young high achievers in their quest towards realising their full potential in society," she explained.

Through four well-established initiatives — the GSAT Scholarships, the Youth Savings Programme, the Renald Mason Scholarship and the Essay Competition — FHC has sought to provide opportunities for students to access financial support for their studies.

This year, 17 pupils benefitted from the GSAT Scholarships, which are awarded to FHC's active youth savers who have been with the institution for at least six months, and have achieved good passes in the GSAT Examinations and, or, have a financial need.

The company will be providing five awardees with $100,000 each over a five year period and 12 recipients will be given $10,000 each as a one-time payment on a needs basis.