Freedom Federal Credit Union’s Golden Apple Educator Awards Now Open for Submissions

Program will award $10,000 in grants to educators across Harford County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, and Baltimore City

March 26, 2026 – Freedom Federal Credit Union is now accepting applications for its 2026 Golden Apple Annual Education Awards, an annual program that will provide $10,000 in grant funding to local educators across Harford County, Baltimore County, Carroll County and Baltimore City. Eligible applicants include employees of public and private primary and secondary schools, including teachers, administrators, and support staff. Applicants must be new or existing Freedom members to receive an award.

For more than a dozen years, the Golden Apple Awards have helped local educators bring impactful ideas to life in their classrooms, schools, and communities. “It’s been incredibly rewarding to see how the Golden Apple Educator Awards program has grown over the years,” said Mike MacPherson, President and CEO of Freedom Federal Credit Union. “What began as a way to honor and support our members who are educators has continued to expand, allowing us to invest in innovative ideas that positively impact students, energize schools, and strengthen communities.”

Freedom will award ten Golden Apple Educator Awards this year, including two $2,000, four $1,000, and four $500 awards to local education employees. The program recognizes educators with innovative ideas that can positively impact students, classrooms, schools, and the broader community.

As part of the application, entrants must submit an essay addressing one or more of the following questions:

What is your creative idea or initiative to benefit your students, classroom, or school, and how will you bring it to life using the funds from this award?
How will your idea or initiative support or improve the learning experience of your students or benefit your classroom or school overall?
Will your idea or initiative benefit the overall community? If yes, how so?

Interested applicants can complete the entry form available at freedomfcu.org/golden-apple and submit their completed application materials to enter@freedomfcu.org by May 31, 2026. Entries will be reviewed by a panel of Freedom employees, volunteers and community partners. Award recipients will be contacted by June 22, 2026 and will be honored guests at an awards reception in August.

About Freedom Federal Credit Union

Freedom Federal Credit Union is a community-chartered federal credit union offering business banking services and consumer financial services to those who live, work, volunteer, worship, attend school, or have family in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Carroll County, and Harford County. Freedom was founded in 1953 and currently has eight locations throughout Harford and Baltimore Counties. To learn more, visit freedomfcu.org.

New Benefits for Educators

Freedom Federal Credit Union Introduces New Financial Program Exclusively for Educators

Freedom Federal Credit Union is pleased to introduce a new financial program exclusively for educators in Harford and Baltimore Counties. The Golden Apple Program was created to provide financial products and services to employees working within public and private schools in the two counties.

Among the benefits of the Golden Apple Program, Freedom offers the new Educator Visa® credit card, which provides teachers and school support staff a way to organize and save on school supply purchases. Once approved for the credit card, educators will have access to a $1,000 credit line at an annual percentage rate (APR) equal to the rate of prime, currently 8.50%, as of December 19, 2023.

According to the Harford County Education Foundation, 99.5% of teachers purchase basic school supplies for their students out of their own pockets. Additionally, teachers spend approximately $500-$1,000 each year on school supplies from their personal funds. The Educator Visa credit card is intended to lessen the burden of these purchases by providing educators with a way to organize all their school-related purchases on one card, and avoid paying an APR on those expenses that is double or triple the rate of prime, if not higher.

In conjunction with the new Educator Visa, Freedom is also updating their Educator Savings Program, which now offers school employees a much higher annual percentage yield (APY) on their savings. At 2.50% APY*, educators can earn interest well above the national average for savings accounts, which the FDIC is currently reporting to be just 0.058% as of December 2023. Freedom requires no minimum balance or fees for the account, just initial proof of employment with a school.

“Those who know us well, know that our support for educators extends well beyond our community-based sponsorships. Our real involvement comes from being there on a personal level for each and every educator and support employee that we can assist,” states Mike MacPherson, President and CEO of Freedom Federal Credit Union. “As we look ahead to the rest of the school year, we know that our school employees are under immense pressure, and we can’t think of a better time to reach out to help in our own way – to ease financial stress and assist in securing their future financial well-being.”

Also included in the Golden Apple Program, new Freedom members can receive a $100 bonus with direct deposit and eStatement enrollment, a high yield checking account, 2 free Skip-A-Pays on certain loans, auto refinancing specials, a mortgage bonus, matches on new youth accounts, and eligibility to apply for Freedom’s annual classroom grant awards program. Additionally, Harford County Public School employees are able to access their pay a full day in advance of their standard payday. For full Golden Apple Program details and requirements, please visit freedomfcu.org/golden-apple/.

LEARN ABOUT THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS OFFERED TO HARFORD COUNTY EDUCATORS- EXPLORE THE REST OF THE GOLDEN APPLE PROGRAM!

* Qualifying applicants will earn 2.50% APY on balances up to $10,000 and 0.35% APY on balances of $10,000.01 and higher. No minimum balance requirements. No minimum to open account. Membership eligibility applies. Federally insured by the NCUA.

Golden Apple-Plus Educator Award

Golden Apple-Plus Educator Award Winners

2017 Golden Apple-Plus Education Award Winners — Freedom’s 2017 Golden Apple-Plus annual Educator Award winners! Pictured are (L to R): Sandra Waltemire, special education teacher at North Harford Middle, runner-up award; Patrice Ricciardi, Freedom Business development Specialist; Paula Pawlowicz, fifth grade teacher at Churchville Elementary, the winner!; Mike MacPherson, Freedom President and CEO; Kim Mayforth, early intervention special educator at John Archer School, runner-up award; and Randy Geyer, Principal, Bel Air High School.

We’re happy to announce that Deborah Pawlowicz has won our 2017 Golden Apple-Plus Annual Educator Award competition. Ms. Pawlowicz wins the top $1,000 prize for her idea to use technology to improve the reading skills of her students.

We support the Harford County education community. Therefore, this annual Golden Apple-Plus Annual Educator Award is for a Freedom member who is also a deserving teacher, school administrator or school support employee. Ms. Pawlowicz is a fifth grade English Language Arts teacher at Churchville Elementary. She states in her entry that she wants her students to read with a purpose, and to be able to really understand and analyze text. This is often a challenge when reading is done on a computer. Therefore, Ms. Pawlowicz recommends buying a website subscription to enable this interaction. Features include a way for both the teacher and students to choose their reading level. This way, students who are struggling readers can read and interact with the same article that gifted readers use. This award allows Ms. Pawlowicz to purchase the needed subscriptions.

Runner-Up Winners

There are two Runner-Up awards with each recipient earning a $250 award. The Golden Apple-Plus Education Award runner-up winners are:

Kim Mayforth, an Early Intervention Special Educator in the Infants and Toddlers Program at John Archer School. Ms Mayforth works with developmentally challenged children from birth to age 3. She proposes the purchase of adaptive toys that promote the learning of cause and effect and intentionality. The toys also foster communication, motor development and social-emotional development.

Sandra Waltemire teaches children with significant intellectual disabilities at North Harford Middle School. Her idea is to purchase supplies and ingredients to help her students apply skills in a real-life-situation — completing a cooking recipe. In the process, functional math skills, such as budgeting, price comparison and measurement are taught. In addition, students learn to independently prepare food at home in the future.

All Golden Apple-Plus Award applicants are asked to submit an essay demonstrating how their idea serves their students, class, school and the Harford County community. A panel of Freedom employees and board members judge each year’s entries.