Virginia Credit Union Wins Award for Financial Education Efforts in Inner-City Richmond, Other Projects

RICHMOND, VA (11/05/2009)(readMedia)-- Richmond-based Virginia Credit Union has won a 2nd Place Award 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 to young people.

Using the Smart Start financial education curriculum it developed, the credit union was able to reach more than 5,500 students and 229 teachers through its financial education programs. Among the highlights of its work during the 2008-2009 school year were outreach efforts in the City of Richmond, where it brought financial education lessons to students, parents, and teachers at several public schools in the City.

Virginia Credit Union also continued its work with Virginia Commonwealth University, offering its Financial Success Summit to 300 college students. The credit union taught its young members to save through its participation in the April 2008 Youth Savings Challenge, during which 4,658 members under the age of 18 deposited more than $1 million into savings accounts or CDs. In addition, its "Pocket Change" newsletter shares practical personal finance information with the credit union's teen members.

"The money management tools we learn as young people will serve us well as adults," says Jane Watkins, President/CEO of Virginia Credit Union. "Research shows that even the most basic lessons in personal finance we receive as young people will influence the way we manage and use money. It's important that we educate young people on how to manage their finances for a lifetime. It is vital to helping them achieve success."

Virginia Credit Union is a $1.8 billion member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative based in Richmond. Learn more about the credit union online at www.vacu.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).