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The Family Involvement Council (FIC) participates and offers educational materials and programs geared toward bringing
awareness to younger members in the credit unions across the state of Minnesota.
Nationally, we endorse the National Youth Involvement Board and the National Endowment for Financial Education. Both of these organizations exist to generate and provide financial education to
our youth and underserved individuals. 1 National Youth Involvement Board – the NYIB promotes the value of financial literacy, youth services, and leadership development within the credit union movement. 2 National Endowment for Financial Education – NEFE is a non-profit foundation dedicated to helping all Americans acquire the information and gain the skills necessary to take control of their personal finances. |
Check out the FIC’s Start 2 Go program! In the fall of 2006, your Minnesota Family Involvement Council introduced its new Start 2 Go program, aimed at helping one credit union at a time. The FIC asks Minnesota credit unions: Have you ever wanted to start a kids, teen or seniors club in your credit union, but didn’t know how to start? Start 2 Go is designed to help credit unions do so! On an annual basis, the FIC sends out an informational brochure to credit unions. Credit unions complete the form for a chance to enter into a random drawing to receive resources and personal assistance from FIC members to help develop a club. Federated Employees Credit Union of Owatonna was selected for year two of Start 2 Go, working from Sept. 1, 2007-Aug. 31, 2008 to develop a teen club. For a recap of year one, read on…. FIC’s Start 2 Go program receives high marks After introducing its Start 2 Go program to Minnesota credit unions in the fall of 2006, the Minnesota Family Involvement Council (FIC) received high marks from Austin City Employees Credit Union (ACECU), which was the first credit union to participate in the program. The FIC assisted ACECU in creating a kids club for their credit union. For the term of one year, the FIC worked closely with ACECU employees to help them create a kids club that was appealing and useful to their younger members. The employees had always wanted to create a kids club, but they didn’t have the time to research ideas and get the club started, said ACECU President Pam Reistad. “The FIC was a great help to us,” Reistad said. “They provided us with everything we needed to get started, including ideas and insight, along with endless resources and materials to promote our program.” Working together with the FIC, ACECU created a kids’ club named “ACE”cu using the acronym from Austin City Employees Credit Union. The club is broken down into two age brackets, ages 0-6 and 7-12. The FIC helped ACECU create templates for club newsletter and a mascot for the club. The club’s mascot is a friendly-looking professor whose name is ACE. ACE sends club members birthday cards and quarterly newsletters filled with money tips, money activities and coloring pages. ACE also encourages members to put their money into an “ACE”cu club savings account. When an “ACE”cu club member opens an account, they receive a pencil box filled with crayons, pencils, a savings books, and a sheet to document their savings goals. Club members also receive an “ACE”cu buck whenever they deposit $3 into their account. The kids then save up their “ACE”cu bucks to buy prizes from the credit union. “Our hope is that kids will enjoy coming into our credit union and also learn the importance of saving money,” Reistad said. “Many young adults have trouble saving money, and we want them to get into the habit saving before they get out on their own.” “ACE”cu has had great success over the past year. ACECU, which has 1,050 members, has 52 kids club accounts with have assets exceeding $4,600. “ACE”cu kids club members are excited about saving, and their parents like seeing their kids working towards saving goals, Reistad said. ACECU’s year-long participation with the Start 2 Go program ended in August, but “ACE”cu is going strong. In fact, the program is going so well that ACECU has considered creating a teen club within the next couple of years. |