Virginia Beach Credit Unions Honored with State, National Awards for Financial Literacy Projects

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (11/06/2009)(readMedia)-- Beach Municipal Federal Credit Union and Virginia Beach Schools Federal Credit Union have jointly won 1st Place Awards in the state and national 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 unions' award-winning entry featured the work of their partnership with the Virginia Cooperative Extension and Landstown High School to offer a variety of financial education sessions for young people. Their work includes a semester-long "Financial Fridays" program that taught high school students how to manage their finances and the annual, week-long Camp Millionaire that teaches middle school-aged students important personal finance concepts through games, field trips and activities. Thanks to the support of the two credit unions, camp participants were able to attend the week-long camp for only $25 per student compared to the $295 per student charged nationally.

"The goal of our financial education programs is to encourage young people to use money wisely," says Beach Municipal Federal Credit Union Vice President of Marketing Diana Counts. "It's critical that we teach them about the basics like budgeting and saving, but we also need to teach them about the responsible use of credit cards and how to evaluate loan terms. The skills we teach them today will serve them well as they prepare for college or enter the workforce."

Beach Municipal Federal Credit Union is a $102 million not-for-profit, full-service financial cooperative. Learn more about the credit union online at https://www.beachmunicipal.org/index.asp. Virginia Beach Schools Federal Credit Union is a $68 million not-for-profit, full-service financial cooperative. Learn more about the credit union online at http://www.vbsfcu.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 children to save, and he promoted the idea of in-school savings programs (caisses scolaires).