Virginia Educators Credit Union Wins State, National Financial Literacy Awards

NEWPORT NEWS, VA (11/06/2009)(readMedia)-- Newport News-based Virginia Educators Credit Union has won a 1st Place state-level award and Honorable Mention national 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.

Virginia Educators Credit Union was recognized for conducting 132 classroom presentations (reaching 1,341 students). The credit union operates a student-run branch at Menchville High School and also supports student credit unions at middle and elementary schools.

"Understanding the importance of personal finance is a key to the future success of the younger generation," says Virginia Educators Credit Union President/CEO Sharon Conti. " We can make a difference today by encouraging students to save, by teaching them the difference between wants and needs, and by showing them how to budget."

Virginia Educators Credit Union is a $48 million member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative based in Newport News. Learn more about the credit union online at http://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).

Virginia Educators Credit Union was organized in 1954 as the Warwick Teachers' Association Credit Union and has since expanded to serve large groups of the Peninsula's educational community. The credit union's membership includes all persons engaged in educational services in the cities of Newport News and Williamsburg and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, and York. Students enrolled in a college or university in Newport News, Hampton, and Williamsburg and alumni of such colleges and universities are also eligible to become members of the credit union.