With a focus on teaching children about the importance of saving, State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) recently held its 2018 Youth Saving Challenge Contest, “The ART of Saving.” Nearly 23,000 FAT CAT and Zard members accepted the Credit Union’s artful challenge to get creative with their saving habits, opening 825 new youth accounts and depositing over $4.3 million! SECU youth who made a deposit into their share account during the contest week of April 16th – April 20th were automatically entered in a random drawing for one FAT CAT and one Zard member to win an Apple iPad mini 2 and a $25 iTunes gift card. Each of SECU’s 263 statewide offices also hosted an additional giveaway, with winners receiving an art set.
The Youth Saving Challenge ran in conjunction with April’s Financial Literacy Month, providing a great opportunity for the cooperative to further enhance its youth financial education efforts. SECU uses a variety of educational resources, including its own FAT CAT® program, Biz Kid$ educational materials, the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE) High School Financial Planning Program® curriculum, and The Reality of Money financial simulation to teach elementary, middle, and high school students the basics needed for a strong financial foundation. The Credit Union currently serves 258,500 FAT CAT and Zard members with more than $212 million in savings.
“To promote the Challenge, we created a massive art display that our members could easily see as they walked into the branch,” said Kelly Pippinger-Clark, Vice President of SECU’s Asheville-Oak Plaza branch. “The ART of Saving” campaign inspired parents and kids to sharpen their saving skills and work toward building a portfolio of bright opportunities. It was a great way to motivate our young members to become Picassos of Finance!”
Winners of the Apple iPads and iTunes gift cards will be published on SECU youth websites, www.cufatcats.org and www.teenzard.org, as well as in the FAT CAT Paw Prints and Zard Money Matterz newsletters upon official member confirmation.
