Investing in our communities.
In 2025, StellerVista Credit Union reached a major milestone in community and member reinvestment. Guided by our core value of sharing success, we returned more than $1 million to members and communities through patronage, dividends, donations, grants, scholarships, and local sponsorships. For a credit union of our size, that level of reinvestment is significant – and it speaks directly to the strength of the year we had.
That support took many forms: more than $800,000 approved for members through patronage, over $97,000 paid in member share dividends, and more than $200,000 directed back into our communities through donations, grants, sponsorships, and local initiatives across the Kootenay and Boundary region. Staff also continued to show up in meaningful ways throughout the year – supporting local events, identifying grassroots needs, and helping ensure community investment stayed local in both spirit and execution.
StellerImpact Grants
2025 continued the success of our StellerImpact grants program, building on the momentum of this growing community investment initiative. Recognizing the enhanced impact that can be achieved through partnerships with local groups and projects, the program is designed to provide partial funding ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 for initiatives that create meaningful local benefit. This year, we awarded more than $50,000 in StellerImpact grants to 20 different non-profit groups and initiatives across our service areas, demonstrating our continued commitment to empowering local ideas and supporting positive change throughout the Kootenay and Boundary regions.
Local Giving, Local Decision Making
A major strength of our community investment model is that it does not rely on one central decision alone. Branch teams continue to play an important role in identifying the causes, organizations, and events that matter most in their own communities, helping ensure local knowledge remains at the center of local giving. That approach allows us to support a broad range of needs — from smaller grassroots initiatives to larger community projects with wider regional benefit — while staying grounded in the real priorities of the areas we serve. It is one of the clearest ways our local structure continues to matter, allowing us to make community investment decisions that are informed by relationships, shaped by lived understanding, and focused on creating meaningful impact close to home.
StellerStudents
Part of our commitment to community investment is an investment in local students. In 2025, StellerVista continued to run these awards in-house in certain regions, aiming to increase accessibility. Recognizing the changing landscape of education and the diverse individuals pursuing it, we are thrilled to see a broader range of students applying for scholarships. We plan to further expand this program in the future. Last year, we awarded more than $25,000 to local students across all seven of our communities.