Prepare for Federation’s 2008 Youth CU Conference

(April 22, 2008 – New York, NY) As the 2008 National Credit Union Youth Week begins, community development credit unions (CDCUs) around the country are preparing to reach out to encourage youth members in their communities to save.

At Alternatives FCU (Ithaca, NY,) Development Educator Joe Cummins will give out pencils made from $7.00 in recycled U.S. currency to youth at their headquarters. Alternatives FCU, which also has branches in five local schools, will have a raffle at each branch. Students who make a deposit this week are eligible to win a cash prize.

Other CDCUs without youth credit unions are also planning to celebrate Youth Week. Generations Community CU’s (Durham, NC) nine branches will waive the membership fee for any new youth accounts opened this week.

According to Mortgage Officer Nathan Farrior, Generations Community CU, which made great progress last year by signing up youth of all ages, is capitalizing on the National Credit Union Week theme: Got Green?  Grow it at Your Credit Union!  “We’ll be teaching our youth about the differences between credit unions and banks and how they can save for the future,” explained Farrior, “Building on this year’s theme, we’ll also be discussing why protecting the environment is an important goal, and how the green economy can help our communities.”

In San Francisco, Mission SF FCU will present a $100 prize to one lucky youth who makes a deposit into their account this week. Margaret Libby, Executive Director of Mission SF Community Financial Center, Mission SF FCU’s non-profit affiliate, will also be announcing the names of two youth who will attend the National Federation of Community Development Credit Union’s (Federation) Youth Network Annual Conference, which runs parallel to the 34th Annual Conference on Serving the Underserved, being held in Dallas, June 11-14, 2008.

This year’s conference will feature a special train-the-trainer session run by Mission SF’s Youth Trainers for Economic Power. “Our youth trainers have been working with youth in the Bay Area for over a year and will have the opportunity to share their experiences and help train others at the conference for the first time,” said Libby.

Also on the schedule for the youth conference is a day of volunteering at the Jubilee Center, a co-operative leadership workshop, and the opportunity to play CUNA’s Mad City Money™ simulation. 

For more information about the Federation Youth Credit Union Network and this year’s 34th Annual Conference on Serving the Underserved, please click here or contact Dan Apfel at dapfel@cdcu.coop.