WICHITA, Kan. — Robert Reeves may be a nutrition professor at Kansas State University but he also has come to know a thing or two about financial education and credit unions.
He is chairman of the $35 million K-State Federal Credit Union in Manhattan and he and his president/CEO, LaRae Kraemer, have been picking up awards from Washington to Topeka for a highly successful financial literacy campaign.
“It's not often that a credit union our size can take home some of these awards but we're delighted to win them based on a campaign that has proved popular at five schools now,” said Reeves.
In March at CUNA's Government Affairs Conference, the CU captured the national Desjardins Youth Financial Education Award and last week won recognition for its first place state win during the annual Kansas Credit Union Association conference here.
The Manhattan program, called “Save@School” centers on an essay contest and hands-on student participation in account opening and handling jobs in an imaginary CU. The essay contest winners for fifth and sixth graders are named “Millionaires for the Day.”
Interest earned on the $1 million is deposited in a K-State FCU Save@School account in the student's name with winners “treated like celebrities and traveling in a stretch limousine” to meet with Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins who helped launch the program at K-State four years ago.
The K-State program began at one school and since has spread to four more with Sunflower UP CU in Marysville also adopting “Millionaire for a Day.”
“We think it's a program more credit unions in Kansas and elsewhere might want to look at,” said Kraemer.
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