The $58 million, 11,052-member Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit Union in Lakewood, N.Y., hassignificantly expanded its Kid's Credit Union program at communityschools in the past year.

The program helps students save money, including an end goal tograduate from high school with more than $10,000 in their creditunion accounts.

Southern Chautauqua FCU established Kid's Credit Union in 2005and introduced the program in two elementary schools. The creditunion now works with six area elementary schools, each of which islocated in low-income designated areas within the community. What's more, Southern Chautauqua FCU has 40% more studentsparticipating in the Kid's Credit Union program than the previousyear.

To cover the costs of the materials for this growing project,Chautauqua FCU received a grant from the National Credit Union Foundation, which awards grants toprograms that make a positive impact in communities and empowersconsumers to achieve financial freedom through credit unions.

The Kid's Credit Union project provides financial education tosecond-graders in Southern Chautauqua FCU's community schools andfollows these students until they graduate from high school. Thereare yearly goals for the students to meet with the end goal tograduate with a balance in their accounts of over $10,000.

“The vision of the credit union is to strengthen these students'financial position so they will have a positive impact in theworkforce after high school and become the community's brightfuture,” said John Felton, president/CEO at Southern ChautauquaFCU. “The best way to affect the future is to teach a child thevalue of saving money and rewarding them for their efforts.”

A major difference in the Kid's Credit Union program over astandard savings account is in the structure of it. A schedule isgiven to each student, allowing them to see how their money willgrow if they continue saving through the 10-year process.

As the end of the school year nears, reminders are given tostudents of the amount in their accounts with the amount needed toachieve their goal for that year. Every student receives acertificate of completion at the end of each school year.

“Educating youth on the importance of saving and beingfinancially savvy is critical,” said Lois Kitsch, national programdirector at the NCUF. “Southern Chautauqua FCU's Kid's Credit Unionprogram is a great mix of financial education with an attractivesavings product.”