Numerica scholarships open for applications
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 days, 14 hours AGO
Numerica Credit Union is accepting applications for $1,250 scholarships for students in central and eastern Washington.
COURTESY PHOTO/STANLEY MORALES/PEXELS
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | February 5, 2026 3:05 AM
MOSES LAKE — Numerica Credit Union is accepting applications for its 2026 scholarships.
“On Feb. 2, we opened up what is called our ‘$tarting Off Right Scholarships,’” said Financial Engagement Manager Jon Maroni. “We’re offering 16 scholarships (for) $1,250 apiece.”
The scholarships are open to high school seniors who will graduate this year, according to Numerica’s website.
The Numerica scholarship is need-based and differs from some other scholarships in that a student’s grades aren’t a factor, Maroni said.
“As long as the student has graduated, we won’t get their transcript of their academic records or their test scores or anything of that nature,” Maroni said. “Our core purpose is to enhance lives, fulfill dreams, and build communities, and we know that someone’s desire and ability to contribute to the community isn’t going to be always dictated by what’s on their transcript.”
Applicants can go to Numerica’s website, fill out an online application and take a short quiz, and submit two letters of recommendation from teachers or coaches.
“I would describe it as one of the easiest scholarship applications that anyone would ever do,” Maroni said.
Recipients must be members of the credit union, Maroni added, which is free and can be managed merely by opening an account before applying.
The scholarships aren’t solely for students going to four-year colleges or universities, Maroni said.
“We’ve had folks who are going off to study psychology, study nursing, but we’ve also had people who’ve gone to trade programs, and all of those are eligible. This is not exclusively for someone who’s going to college. I think one of our previous winners from the Wenatchee area was going to a welding school in Wyoming, and we were happy to support him in doing that.”
About 80-100 students apply every year, Maroni said. The applications are anonymized and then judged by a panel of about 15 Numerica employees. The makeup of the panel changes every year, Maroni said.
“It’s one of the cooler opportunities for a Numerica staff member, because it’s always fun to give away the credit union’s money,” he said.
Applications close Feb. 28, and the winners will be notified April 1, according to the website.
Students who are getting ready to graduate should apply for every scholarship they’re eligible for, Maroni said, even if they seem like a long shot.
“There’s that classic Wayne Gretzky quote that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” Maroni said. “You will not get 100% of the scholarships you don’t apply for. So don’t avoid applying for scholarships just because you assume you might not get one.”
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Lawmakers hear testimony on Truth in Mental Health Coverage Act
OLYMPIA — A bill to streamline access to mental health has been introduced in this year’s session of the Washington Legislature.
No injuries in Moses Lake car fire Monday
MOSES LAKE — A vehicle fire slowed, but didn’t stop, the line of parents dropping off students at Columbia Middle School Monday morning. Nobody was hurt in the incident, according to City of Moses Lake Communications and Marketing Specialist Lynne Lynch. At about 8:20 a.m., a car on Nelson Road across from the school caught fire, Lynch wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. The cause is believed to have been an electrical problem in the rear of the vehicle. No further information was available Monday afternoon.
Country Sweethearts raises money for cancer fighters
MOSES LAKE — It’s a rare person who hasn’t been touched by cancer one way or another, said Jay Ballinger, who delivered the blessing before the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation’s Country Sweethearts banquet and auction Saturday. He asked each person in the room to call to mind someone affected by the disease – a survivor, a passed loved one, a caregiver, a health care worker – and take 30 seconds of silence to think about or pray for those people. “We are going to assail the gates of heaven tonight with prayers for every single person that 580 of us can think of,” Ballinger, a cancer survivor and former CBCF board member, said. “If you let me round that up to 600 and we do 30 seconds, that’s 300 minutes. That’s five hours of prayer.”