The tagline of SAFE Federal Credit Union is “Family helping family.” A look through itsextensive history of community service and philanthropy throughout the Sumter, South Carolina, area reveals a tradition for retiring board members that proves the people who work at this institution practice what they preach.
The credit union keeps its impact personal and tends to support small, local businesses and nonprofits in the area. Access to financial education is another priority, seen in the way SAFE covered the material and program expenses for financial literacy classes for more than 65 high schools in the state. It has also made a significant impact on the scholarship pool at USC Sumter by establishing scholarships in honor of retiring or deceased members of the Board and Supervisory Committee.
“We wanted to recognize them in some way other than putting their name on a room,” says Kay Oldhouser Davis, chair of the Board of Directors at SAFE. “We wanted something tangible, something they could connect with for the rest of their life and their families would appreciate.”
A financial institution endowing scholarships was a “natural fit.” Though SAFE is a longtime supporter of USC Sumter, it began this specific tradition in 2021. Most recently, it has endowed its fourth fund in this fashion – a scholarship for the golf team in honor of Ken Privette, a long-serving board member who died unexpectedly in April 2026.
Each scholarship is connected to an interest, hobby or field of study near and dear to the heart of the retiree. For Privette, that was athletics, specifically golf and baseball — he was always the first of the SAFE team to sign up for the golf tournaments hosted by USC Sumter.
Individualizing a scholarship not only honors the board member’s passions and interests but also keeps them connected to the community they serve. Honored retirees often attend donor functions at USC Sumter and meet the students who receive their scholarships, building relationships that last.
“The campus has been a big part of our lives. Many of our employees have graduated from there,” says Michael Baker, President/CEO of SAFE. “It’s been neat that we have been able to individualize and remember them in this way, or for things that were important to them. It gives us a way to keep the memory of that person alive or keep volunteers engaged.”
Some of SAFE’s most valuable contributions have not been monetary — they have been donations of time. Baker emphasizes the credit union’s goal of building trust by working alongside the community.
“We want to be good stewards of the communities we serve,” he says. “The only way that we know that seems right is to put in effort to make that community better in different ways.”
Davis praised Privette’s dedication to the community and SAFE family, recalling how he was always “looking out for our members and their interests first.” In one of her last conversations with him, Privette gave her the name of a potential future board member — looking out for the credit union to the very end.
“That’s just the kind of person he was,” Davis says.