Tampa, Fla. (January, 2024) – The Tampa Bay BCA has been chosen as one of the organizations to receive funding from the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. The foundation prioritizes three primary areas of need: education, health and emotional well-being of children in our communities. Funding received from the credit union will support the costs associated with providing scholarship to high school students to offset the cost of higher education tuition.

Tampa Bay BCA annually awards six or more scholarships to Tampa Bay area high school students with exceptional talents in instrumental and vocal music, theater, dance, visual and literary arts. The program was founded in 2008 by the late Charlie Hounchell, a former president of Tampa Bay BCA. It was later renamed in his honor. Tampa Bay BCA has awarded over $240,000 in financial tuition assistance to more than 90 Tampa Bay area students, the majority from public high schools. 

“At Suncoast, we recognize the value and dimension that art brings to all of our lives while providing a creative portal for individuals to express themselves,” said Kourtney Berry, Executive Director of Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. “Supporting the important work of Tampa Bay BCA is a natural fit for Suncoast, as we both share the similar goal of promoting the education, health, and well-being of children in our communities.”

“Leaders in business and industry highly value an arts education as it cultivates necessary thinking skills applicable to the real world.,” said Zora Carrier, PhD, Executive Director of the Tampa Bay BCA.

About Tampa Bay BCA

The Tampa Bay BCA is a trailblazing non-profit 501 (c) (3) that has been revolutionizing the cultural landscape since its inception in 1989. As the first-ever Business Committee for the Arts in Florida, Tampa Bay BCA has been leading the charge of connecting business leaders with the arts and culture scene – both in the workplace and the broader community as a part of the private sector network and national pARTnership Movement of Americans for the Arts: https://www.tbbca.org/get-involved/join-the-movement/

We aim to educate the business sector on the significance of investing in arts and culture. By doing so, we can attract and maintain corporations and highly skilled workers in the region, improve local communities, and promote hospitality tourism, based on the philosophy that the arts are good for business and business is good for the arts.

About Suncoast Credit Union

Suncoast Credit Union is the largest credit union in the state of Florida, the 8th largest in the United States based on membership, and the 11th largest in the United States based on its $17.1 billion in assets. Chartered in 1934 as Hillsborough County Teachers Credit Union, Suncoast Credit Union currently operates 78 full-service branches and serves more than one million members across Florida. As a community credit union, anyone who lives, works, attends school or worships in Suncoast Credit Union’s service area is eligible for membership. In 2021, Suncoast Credit Union’s field of membership was expanded to include public K-12 teachers, college educators, and educational support staff from all of Florida’s 67 counties. Suncoast is passionate about community support. Since its founding in 1990, the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation has raised and donated more than $40 million to organizations and initiatives that support the health, education, and emotional well-being of children in the communities that the credit union serves. For more information, visit suncoastcreditunion.com or follow us on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

###