Langley Federal's Partnerships With Local Schools Recognized with State-Level Financial Education Award

NEWPORT NEWS, VA (12/22/2011)(readMedia)-- Langley Federal Credit Union has won 3rd Place in the state Desjardins Youth Financial Education Awards for credit unions. The Desjardins Awards, sponsored by the Virginia Credit Union League and the Credit Union National Association, honor credit unions for their commitment to teaching personal finance basics in their communities.

The credit union was recognized for a wide range of programs, including partnerships with seven of its local elementary schools and one middle school in its Mini Branch In-School Savings program. This partnership with LFCU encourages students to develop positive financial habits at a very young age.

Once a student becomes a part of the program, they are able to deposit money into their personal savings account every other week through a 'teller window' manned by LFCU staff located at the school. The money handling experience is what differentiates this program from others of its kind. Allowing the students to deposit their money themselves gives them first-hand exposure to the process and is key to helping them understand what saving is all about.

LFCU also awarded 40 grants of $250 each for local schools to teach financial literacy in the classroom. The grants are used for teaching a wide variety of financially related topics and associated classroom activities. In addition, LFCU was able to reach 2,777 students with classroom presentations on personal finance during the 2010-2011 school year.

"It's so important to teach young people how to prepare for their financial futures and how to manage their money," says Langley Federal Credit Union President/CEO Jean Yokum. "Studies show that our young people are, in many ways, unprepared for the tough decisions they'll have to make as they think about college, the workforce, buying a home, or starting a family. At LFCU, we feel it's part of our mission to provide young people with the knowledge they need to make informed financial choices, ones that set them on a path toward financial security."

Langley Federal Credit Union has been in business for 75 years. The credit union serves more than 179,000 members and has more than $1.5 billion in assets, ranking the financial institution as one of the top 100 largest credit unions in the nation. Learn more about the credit union online at www.langleyfcu.org.

The award is named in honor of Alphonse Desjardins, the founder of the North American credit union movement, who established the first "caisse populaire" (people's bank) in Quebec in 1900, and helped establish the first American credit union in New Hampshire in 1909. Desjardins was an ardent believer in the value of teaching individuals to save, and he promoted the idea of in-school savings programs (caisses scolaires).