Loudoun Credit Union Takes Top State Award for Financial Education Work

LEESBURG, VA (11/06/2009)(readMedia)-- Loudoun Credit Union has won a state-level 1st Place Award in the 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 to young people.

The credit union's award-winning entry showcased its work with 14 local schools to run the popular Kirby Kangaroo financial education and savings program. Offered in English and Spanish, the Kirby Kangaroo program gives students the opportunity to save and make deposits at school, providing saving incentives and a Web site designed to teach kids the value of saving. The credit union boasts more than 1,300 youth accounts with more than $500,000 on deposit. The credit union has also actively participated in local Reality Store events at its local high schools. These events teach teens real-world budgeting and financial management skills.

"There is a real need for personal finance training in our schools," says Tammy Ellis, CEO of Loudoun Credit Union. "Our hope is that the programs we offer will help kids develop financial awareness and encourage them to really think about money and how to manage it, use it and save it."

Loudoun Credit Union is a $24 million member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative headquartered in Leesburg. The credit union has previously won awards at both the state and national levels for its financial education initiatives. Visit http://www.loudouncu.com to learn more about the credit union.

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 children to save, and he promoted the idea of in-school savings programs (caisses scolaires).