WATERTOWN, N.Y. — Northern Credit Union received the “It Takes a Community Award,” from the Jefferson County Youth Advisory Board. Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County (CCE) nominated them for the award that they received during a ceremony on April 11, 2017. Northern Credit Union has been an outstanding partner in our mission to prepare and educate youth for their financial futures,” said Rochelle Runge, College Financial Readiness Educator at CCE.
The Fort Drum RISE grant and CCE partnered with Northern Credit Union in 2015 to support its Mad City Money events and the partnership has continued to grow through 2017. Mad City Money is a hands-on budgeting simulation where students receive an identity complete with occupation, spouse, kids and salary.
Students then visit merchants around the room purchasing needs and wants while balancing their checkbooks and making a budget. Northern Credit Union made a generous donation allowing CCE to bring Mad City Money to six additional schools not covered by RISE grant funding. As a result of Northern Credit Union’s support CCE will be able to reach an additional 400 students with valuable financial education through Mad City Money.
In addition to their support of Mad City Money, Northern Credit Union partnered with CCE and the Fort Drum RISE grant to offer assistance completing the Free Application for Federal Student aid (FAFSA) through an event we called FAFSA Days. They invited CCE to sit at three branch locations to offer FAFSA assistance, created marketing collateral and purchased radio spots to advertise the event. FAFSA Days was extremely successful and we were able to reach more people because of their support and ensure local youth have the tools they need to prepare financially for college.
Northern Credit Union also supports youth financial education through programs like Banzai, which is a financial literacy program they offer free of charge to local schools. Many schools are unable to offer financial education and Northern Credit Union works tirelessly to help fill this gap.
“Providing financial education and increasing financial literacy in the communities we serve is one of our fundamental core values, said Alexa Bennett, AVP of Marketing & RD at Northern Credit Union. “We are proud to partner with Cornell Cooperative Extension to bring these resources to local schools, students and families,” Bennett added.
For more information please contact Rochelle Runge at rav26@cornell.edu or by calling 315.788.8450 ext. 272.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension Jefferson County
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