Madison High School senior Francesca Piacenti is the recipient of the 2012 Julian I. Garfield Memorial Scholarship awarded by Municipal Credit Union (MCU).

Piacenti, who plans to attend St. John’s University in the fall and participate in the school’s pharmacy program, was awarded her $5,000 scholarship by MCU President/CEO Kam Wong and several board members at a special ceremony held at MCU’s headquarters in Manhattan last week.

In 2012, MCU awarded $65,000 in scholarships to college-bound graduating high school seniors: five memorial scholarship grants of $5,000 each and 20 grants of $2,000 each.

Eligibility for the MCU scholarships was open to an MCU member, a child or a grandchild of a member in good standing. Selection was based on academic performance, extracurricular and community activities, letters of recommendation, and an essay expressing personal goals.

The scholarships are part of MCU’s long-standing, larger corporate commitment to youth education and financial literacy across New York City.

Municipal Credit Union (MCU) is the oldest credit union in New York State and one of the oldest and largest in the Country. Established in 1916 and headquartered in New York City, today MCU has assets of over $1.7 billion and offers a full range of financial services to its over 325,000 members. With branches in New York City, Westchester and Long Island, its members also have access to the credit union’s large and growing ATM network. Eligibility to open accounts at MCU is available to New York City and Yonkers municipal employees; state and federal employees who work in the five boroughs; health care professionals who work in New York State; members of select industry groups; employees of private colleges in New York City and private and public colleges in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester; certain family members, and qualifying retirees. MCU is an equal opportunity lender, and deposits are federally insured to at least $250,000 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. government agency. For more information about Municipal Credit Union, visit www.nymcu.org.