The $402 million First Financial Credit Union in Albuquerque,N.M. taught financial literacy to around 200 local high schoolersat a money-spending simulation event called Crazy Cash Citythanks to a grant from the National Credit Union Foundation, the NCUF announced.
|Crazy Cash City took place Oct. 9-11 at the Rio West Mall inGallup, N.M. and was co-hosted by First Nations DevelopmentInstitute, a Longmont, Colo.-based economic developmentorganization supporting Native Americans.
|The event was open to teens enrolled in a financial literacyclass this semester and also served as a pilot program for FirstFinancial CU and First Nations, which may host similar events forschools in the future, NCUF said.
|NCUF said First Financial CU and First Nations tweaked CUNA'sMad City Money program, a money-spending simulation kit gearedtoward high school students, to make it more appropriate for themostly Native American population that attended the event.
|For example, profile cards at Crazy Cash City reflected tribalemployment information, and participants' potential income sourcesincluded tribal forms of revenue such as tribal dividendpayments.
|“At the National Credit Union Foundation, we've foundexperiential learning activities such as First Financial CU'ssimulation to be a resounding success,” said Christopher Morris,director of communications for NCUF. “First Financial's pilotsimulation is also a great example of making financial educationengaging and relevant to your community.”
|Each event participant received a folder containing economicinformation about a fictitious family, including income, children'ages, benefits and outstanding debt. The teens then visited variousbooths to make decisions about how they'd spend their money onnecessities such as housing, transportation and child care, withthe goal of having a fully balanced budget at the end of theexercise.ue
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to CUTimes.com, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited CUTimes.com content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Critical CUTimes.com information including comprehensive product and service provider listings via the Marketplace Directory, CU Careers, resources from industry leaders, webcasts, and breaking news, analysis and more with our informative Newsletters.
- Exclusive discounts on ALM and CU Times events.
- Access to other award-winning ALM websites including Law.com and GlobeSt.com.
Already have an account? Sign In
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
