LBS Financial Credit Union hosts financial education event for nearly 400 high school students in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, CA (May 10, 2024) — LBS Financial Credit Union hosted a Bite of Reality financial education event for Wilson High School seniors on April 16, 2024. Thirty-three LBS Financial Credit Union employees and one board member staffed this interactive learning event.
Bite of Reality is a simulation app, provided by the Richard Myles Johnson (RMJ) Foundation, that teaches teens how to make financial decisions and provides a better understanding of building a budget and monitoring everyday spending habits. Students are given a fictional occupation, salary, credit score, spouse, child or both, student loan debt, credit card debit, and medical insurance payments. The students then walk around to various stations to “purchase” housing, transportation, food, clothing, and other needs. LBS Financial Credit Union employee volunteers were tasked to sell the students cars, household furnishings, and other items to spend on the budget assigned to them. The program also features a credit union station to help with their financial needs and unwind any purchases towards the end of the simulation so they can stay within their budget. The RMJ Foundation provides the Bite of Reality app and tools for credit unions to host at local schools.
“Being an alumnus from Wilson High School, I was immediately drawn to volunteer and help make a difference!” said LBS Financial employee and volunteer Tiare Burlingame. “This event truly helped give the students insight into daily life as an adult and gave them a crash course on financial literacy.”
Woodrow Wilson High School is in Long Beach Unified School District and located directly across the street from LBS Financial Credit Union’s very first branch location. The Credit Union was originally chartered by employees of Wilson High School and Long Beach City College in 1935 and prior to buying the land across the street was operated out of Wilson High School.
LBS Financial Credit Union volunteers and Kim Irons, Program Specialist at Long Beach Unified School District (furthest left) came together for the Bite of Reality event at Wilson High School.
LBS Financial Credit Union volunteers interact with Wilson High School students at the transportation booth during in the Bite of Reality event.
About LBS Financial Credit Union
LBS Financial, founded in 1935 as the Long Beach School District Employees Federal Credit Union, is a member-owned cooperative providing savings, checking, money market accounts, share certificates, IRA, insurance and investment services. LBS Financial also offers credit cards, personal, vehicle, boat and home loans. Their field of membership encompasses fifty cities surrounding the greater Long Beach area, as well as Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego Counties. They serve over 140,000 members with eight branch office locations, convenient electronic access (ATMs, online banking and mobile banking) and are part of the CO-OP ATM and Shared Branching Networks. LBS Financial Credit Union has $2 billion in total assets.
About the Richard Myles Johnson Foundation
The Richard Myles Johnson Foundation, established in 1958 as the California Filene Foundation, provides financial education resources for credit unions in California and Nevada.
Never has there been more of a need to reach young people with vital financial decision-making information than now. The RMJ Foundation’s hallmark program, Bite of Reality®, targets teenagers ages 15 to 18 with much needed information and context. Bite of Reality® provides solid financial education, such as car buying, home buying, and budgeting, using experiential learning.
Funding financial education programs is a positive public advocacy tool and helps credit unions fulfill their mission of serving their community. The Foundation is able to fund these vital programs because of the generous donations from credit unions and credit union organizations.
For information about the RMJ Foundation, or to make a donation, please contact Tena Lozano at 909.212.6057.
