Virginia Educators Credit Union Wins 1st Place Desjardins Financial Education Award

NEWPORT NEWS, VA (12/22/2011)(readMedia)-- For the fourth year in a row, Virginia Educators Credit Union has won a 1st place state-level award in the Desjardins Youth Financial Education Awards for credit unions. The credit union's entry has also won Honorable Mention in the national competition. The Desjardins Award, sponsored by the Virginia Credit Union League and the Credit Union National Association, honors credit unions for their commitment to teaching personal finance basics to young people.

Virginia Educators Credit Union conducted 200 financial literacy classroom presentations, reaching over 2,200 students during the 2010-2011 school year. The credit union was recognized for presenting the highest number of presentations in the state out of all credit unions in Virginia. VECU also operates several student credit unions within various elementary, middle and high schools in the Hampton Roads area.

"It is important to establish financial literacy at the earliest possible age, which is why these youth programs are essential," says Virginia Educators Credit Union President/CEO Sharon Conti. "By teaching students how to budget and save, we are helping them build a more secure financial future."

Virginia Educators Credit Union is a $50 million, 9,000 member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative offering services to educational communities in the Hampton Roads area since 1954. Learn more about the credit union online at www.vecu.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. 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).