State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) used the “Magic of Saving” to encourage young members to save their money during the Credit Union’s annual Youth Saving Challenge held April 20-24, 2009 in conjunction with National Credit Union Youth Week. At the conclusion of the week-long event, over 500 new youth accounts were opened and nearly 13,700 members deposited $1.1 million into youth accounts!
The Saving Challenge offered young members the chance to win an extra deposit for being good savers. When a deposit was made to any youth FAT CAT or Zard savings account during the Challenge week, the account owner was automatically entered into a random drawing. Three FAT CAT and three Zard members won extra “magical” deposits with grand prize winners receiving $100, 2nd place winners receiving $75 and 3rd place winners receiving $50.
National Credit Union Youth Week wasn’t the only event being honored by SECU during the month -- North Carolina Governor Beverly Purdue also declared April as Financial Literacy for Youth Month. To give prominent focus to both events, branches from around the State held youth appreciation days, gave educational presentations in local schools, and welcomed youth mascot FAT CAT to visit with kids of all ages.
SECU’s FAT CAT program is for children 12 and under, and its Zard program is for teens 13-19, and currently, there are over 191,000 members in the combined youth programs. Both programs place a primary focus on educating youth on financial topics and assist parents in teaching their children the value of managing money wisely. SECU personnel utilize the FAT CAT Smart Money workbook to teach younger kids about money and the National Endowment for Financial Education’s teen curriculum in the high schools.
Kim Hollifield, Senior Vice President of SECU’s Forest City branch comments, “Events like the Youth Saving Challenge are exciting for our members and our employees. To promote the Challenge, we made a colorful display with a special ‘money hat’ and created fun, educational puzzles and games for the kids to make the week extra special. It is extremely important to help our youngsters learn the value of saving early so they have the tools to become financially successful adults. The ‘Magic of Saving’ theme was a big hit in our branch and we certainly enjoyed breaking out the magic wands to show our youth how much fun saving can be.”
About SECU
SECU is a non-profit financial cooperative owned by its members. SECU has been providing employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for over 70 years. Currently serving over 1.5 million members, SECU provides services through 224 branch offices, more than 1,000 ATMs, 24/7 call centers and a website—www.ncsecu.org.
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Contacts:
SECU
Leigh Brady, Senior Vice President
Education Services,
SECU
919-807-8344, Mobile: 919-327-8869
leigh.brady@ncsecu.org