Reality Fair Technology expands with Foundation grant
BECU is First Credit Union to leverage new app reaching over 7,000 students
MADISON, WI (November 7, 2017) — Thanks to a grant from the National Credit Union Foundation (the Foundation), students attending Reality Fairs can use their mobile phone or tablet in place of pen and paper. The Foundation’s grant allowed the Richard Myles Johnson (RMJ) Foundation to expand the reach of its new “Bite of Reality” App, allowing other Reality Fair practitioners to customize it for their own use. A Reality Fair (or “Financial Reality Fair”) is an interactive financial literacy experience for high school students.
“We developed and launched the Bite of Reality App in 2016 to modernize reality fairs, not just for the RMJ Foundation, but with the hope of expanding it throughout the industry,” said Tena Lozano, RMJ Foundation Executive Director. “The National Credit Union Foundation’s grant allowed us to add an infrastructure so we can share our technology with the rest of the credit union movement.”
BECU in Tukwila, Wash. was the first credit union organization to license the Bite of Reality App, customizing it for its own use, and that program was launched successfully at BECU’s Closing For Good event on October 9, 2017. Closing for Good is an annual event where BECU closes its offices so employees can provide financial education to high school students. In 2017, more than 1,800 BECU employees hosted financial reality fairs leveraging the Bite of Reality App at 12 local high schools in Puget Sound and Spokane reaching more than 7,000 high school students in one day.
The app-based program allowed BECU to reach more than three times the number of students reached in 2016. Click here for pictures from BECU’s Closing for Good event and click here for a video overview.
“Our goal at Closing for Good is to help teens learn how to manage their money responsibly and make smart financial decisions as they prepare for life after high school,” said Rachel Van Noord, BECU’s director of community outreach. “Our ability to customize the Bite of Reality app allowed us to better connect with digitally savvy students. We saw more engagement as students saw real-time financial impacts of their decisions as they experienced the event.”
“The Foundation has seen first-hand the profound effectiveness of Reality Fairs for over ten years and we are proud to facilitate the modernization of the Fairs to reach more students across the country,” said Gigi Hyland, Foundation Executive Director. “We also owe a huge thanks to CUNA Mutual Group for their generosity in helping to underwrite this grant.”
“Our organization strongly believes in teaching kids the importance of finances early to help them achieve financial confidence as they grow,” said Beth Cutler, CUNA Mutual Group Foundation leader. “It’s all part of helping people attain economic stability, and CUNA Mutual Group is proud to help sponsor this work.”
The Foundation is currently working with the RMJ Foundation on plans to help reality fair practitioners everywhere access to this new resource to help more youth become financially capable.
About National Credit Union Foundation
The National Credit Union Foundation (The Foundation) (ncuf.coop) is the charitable arm of the U.S credit union movement, serving as a catalyst for change in people’s financial lives. The Foundation works to ignite understanding and focus on member financial health, inspire and create opportunities for credit unions to leverage their cooperative values and respond quickly when disaster strikes. Through cooperative support and action, the Foundation helps people achieve financial freedom.
About the Richard Myles Johnson Foundation:
The Richard Myles Johnson Foundation, founded in 1958, is dedicated to supporting credit union efforts in spreading the financial literacy message to young people. The Foundation offers the Bite of Reality program, a hands-on simulation program that teaches the basics of finances to teenagers. It is funded through donations from credit unions, League chapters, corporations providing credit union services, and individuals. More information about the Foundation is available at its website at www.rmjfoundation.org.
