Receives Highest Membership Standard from National Trade Association:

bestows “Member in Good Standing”  designation on the Ukrainian National Association, Inc.

Parsippany, N.J. –The Ukrainian National Association, has been designated a “Member in Good Standing” by the National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA), the trade association of American fraternal benefit societies. This level of achievement for 2007 recognizes the society for the highest standards of performance, both in fraternal programming and financial operation, over a one-year period.

The Chicagoland-based NFCA, which celebrates its 121st anniversary in 2007, successfully links its 75 member-societies — fraternal benefit societies that are not-for-profit membership organizations offering life insurance, accident and health insurance, and annuities — to encourage education, training and service to communities at the national and grassroots levels. The association represents approximately 10 million people in more than 36,000 chapters, making it one of America’s largest volunteer networks.

“The NFCA’s ‘Member in Good Standing’ designation reflects the Ukrainian National Association’s commitment to maintaining a strong, viable fraternal benefit society for our members,” said, Christine E. Kozak, UNA national secretary. “The UNA’s good standing within the NFCA demonstrates a standard of system-wide excellence for nearly 113 years of continuous service to our members, families and their communities.

“The leaders of the NFCA’s 75 member-societies believe that the NFCA must enforce strict standards to promote exceptional performance,” said NFCA Chair of the Board Janice U. Whipple. “The fraternal movement in the United States has a long and proud place in American history stretching back nearly 150 years. As such, the NFCA has a responsibility to its member-societies to maintain standards that ensure outstanding fraternal benefit society performance. The NFCA’s standards show that each member-society is financially sound and meets or exceeds criteria upon which tax-exempt and regulatory privileges are granted under federal and state laws.  On behalf of the NFCA Board of Directors, we are honored to bestow the highest ranking on the Ukrainian National Association.”

The NFCA Membership Standards Program was established in 1993 to assess the integrity and uniqueness of NFCA member-societies and prospective members. Fraternal benefit societies are required to provide the NFCA with information regarding financial performance, organizational structure and fraternal outreach activities. This information is gathered and prepared by the NFCA staff for Board review, with particular attention on a society’s common bond, an active chapter system, a representative form of government, sound financial management and substantial, tangible fraternal and charitable activities. If the society being evaluated meets the minimum standards established within the Program, the NFCA Board of Directors then determines individual member compliance with Program requirements. Societies achieving “Member in Good Standing” status in 2007 are evaluated on 2005 information, the most recent year for which complete information is available.

Fraternal benefit societies provide leadership, social, educational, spiritual, patriotic, volunteer, financial and social opportunities to members united by a common bond such as religion, ethnic heritage, trade, gender or other interests. In providing these services, fraternal benefit societies’ unique status as not-for-profit organizations allow millions of people to protect their families financially while making a significant difference in their communities. Combined, the NFCA’s member-societies maintain more than $324 billion of life insurance-in-force and, in 2005 alone, contributed almost $400 million to charitable and fraternal programs. Members of the NFCA’s 75 societies, including the Ukrainian National Association, volunteered 93 million hours for community-service projects in 2005.